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OEOLOGICAL NOTES IN THE OEANGE EIVEE COLONY.

By Major B. M. Skinner^ R.A.M.C.

TN a former article (SciBNCE-GossiP, vol. vii., that of the modern wildebeeste. This particular -*- No. 74, p. 135) it was i3ointecl out that Bloem- spot was a most exceptional one among manv fontein occupies a p)ositioii where the Karroo scores of similar diluvia visited, in that, in addi- strata pass up into the Molteno group of the tion to the horn-core, two shells of a small Stormberg strata. The railway station, level Siiooinea were found in a carbonaceous layer. 4,517 feet, marks fairly exactly the altitude at Another exception which may be noted was a sec- which this change takes place. Above this point tion in the stream-bank west of the town, which sandstones predominate, while below mudstones provided, five feet below the surface, the stone prevail. Borings made below this level show of a peach, lying in a sandy layer of diluvium. casts of mudstones, chiefly blue grey, sometimes The result of disintegration of the rocks has purplish in tint, with thin bands of sandstone, been the formation of two classes of soil, sand the same condition being seen in the banks of and clay : there are also soils formed from the

Bed axd Bank of the Bloemsprdit.

dongas and in the Bloemspruit. The subjoined admixture of these, also a black soil, which is a photograph, taken in the Bloemspruit about two carbonaceous clay. The last has been formed, miles east of the town, shows the bed and lower whenever found, in localised patches near dolerite bank of this stream, where the outcropping rock hills. It is the result of denudation of dolerite was of this character. The white band is traver- accumulated in an area to which there was no tine, covering denuded mudstone. Above the outflow, until the level of the top of the obstruc- travertine is modern diluvium. tion had been reached, and consequently marks The modern diluvium in this bank—and it is of the sites of small bogs. In the present day such much the same character elsewhere —varies in patches of black soil are not extensive, and are places, being sometimes chiefly sand, sometimes deeply furrowed by the rush of rain water to lower clay, or a mixture of the two. In some parts the regions. The pure clay soil is usually found only strata of clay or sand show patches of darker tint, at the foot of a dolerite hill. It contains boulders and occasionally of black carbonaceous material, of dolerite which are disintegrating, but doing so in which the forms of ferns and grasses may more slowly than when exposed to air only. Some be distinguished, generally too friable to be pre- of these have been denuded through removal of served. Near one of these patches, a little below the surrounding clay for brickmaking purposes, the site of the photograph, some eight feet below and lie in the middle of a clay quarry on the talus the surface, and embedded in a carbonaceous slope near New Fort Kop. Seen alone they might sandy clay, a horn-core was discovered, resembling be suggestive of other means of production.

April 1902.—No. 95, Vol. VIII. SCIENCE- GOSSIP.

The cTolerite in disintegrating, besides forming countiy slopes gradually towards the Rhenoster

the ferruginous clay above mentioned, supplies the Spruit, which, where the road approaches it, winds lime which washes down and forms the travertine through gorges cut through dolerite, its modern beneath the diluvium of the valley, and also gives banks being formed of brick earth, and lined with up some magnesia, which is traced in the well- plentiful mimosa. Its bed in places shows the water of the vicinity. doleiite rock. After clearing these hills, shelving The sandstone rocks supjaly the vast quantities diluvial countiy leads down to Glen, on the banks of sand which form the greater part of the beds of of the Modder River. Here is the bridge for the the larger rivers, sometimes very loose and railway running northwards, blown up by the Boers crumbling, at others stiffened with some of the shortly after the occupation of Bloemfontein by clay from the dolerite. Occasionally interbedded our troops, but now reconsti-ucted. The banks of with the sand, dark carbonaceous patches mark the the river are ,cut out of sand, in which a few sec- sites of former vegetation, producing libbon-like tions of mudstones ai'e occasionally visible. These dark grej' or black streaks, in the banks of the mudstones are well exposed in the bed of the river. spruits. The river level here was made to be feet 4,325 ; Eeturning to the older rocks, the sandstones and that of the Rhenoster, where crossed a .short dis- grits which are found as one ascends from the tance above by the road, was 4,375 feet altitude. railway level are seen again on Sussex Hill (see Wnnhlcdon, February I6th, 1902. S.-G., map, p. lOi, vol. vii.), and lying loose on these rocks silicified wood, fragmentaxy, is occasionally THE PLUM AND IT8 ALLIES. found. On proceeding S.E. from this hill for about a mile a whole tree was discovered, just above By Sophia Arjiitt. the level of Bloemfontein station, lying in strata of thin sandstones and mudstones. The tree was "FN March and April, before the great rush' of lying with its roots at a slightly higher level than -^ .spring flowers begins, while they are yet few its branches, having evidently drifted down to this and therefore precious, only the starry celandine,. position, where in all probability it still remains, for violets sweet and otherwise, coltsfoot, gorse, golden efforts which were in progress for its removal to the saxifrage, mercury, marsh marigold, perhaps a Bloemfontein Museum were cut short through the stray primrose or an early windflower, occur the writer having to proceed to another post. Frag- blossoming of many plum trees and the blooming ments of silicified wood were also observed a little of the blackthorn in the leafless hedges. Gilbert south of Spitz Kop. According to Stow, the White's date for it is April 7th to May 10th. Other Molteno strata were occupied by vast forests of observers have placed it as early as March 16th. coniferous trees, which are found copiously in In Mr. Preston's " Flora of Wilt.shire " the earliest certain localities, and generally overlie Coal- flowering is February 20th, 1869, and the latest measures. May 5th, 1879. A little later by about a week It ma_y be noted hei-e that a rock described in comes the buUace, and later still the flowers of the

SCIEN-CE-GOSSIP, vol. vii. p. 34, as appearing like wild plum ; but all of them generally bloom in April.

chert was the same as that described on j). 103 as These three—sloe or blackthorn, bullace, and " black, with conchoidal fracture and white streak," plum—are classed together under the common and was found afterwards to be carbonaceous specific name of Primus communis, and separately shale, metamorphosed by contact with dolerite, as sub-species called respectively P. spinosa, P. the continuation of the same rock near the dolerite insititia, P. domestica. The sloe, or blackthorn, is being unaffected by the intrusive rock. Since veiy different from the other two. It is thorny coming to this conclusion, if .suggests itself that while they are not ; its branches spread out at right " the rock described by Stow in Quarterly Journal angles as theirs do not ; .its flowers appear before Geological Society," vol. xxx., No. 120, p. 620, may the leaves, while the others produce flowers and be of a similar nature. leaves simultaneously. The black fruit of the sloe

Proceeding northwards from Bloemfontein along is upright, round, and sour ; that of the others is the Brandfort Koad, Deale's Farm is passed, just hanging, elliptical, or ovoid, and sweet-flavoured,, beyond which is the exposure noted on p. 13i of as well as much larger. The blackthorn is much vol. vii. Near this kloof is a flat-topped hill, Plaat more abundant and more widely spread in this Kop. The top of this hill is formed by a dolerite country; it is wild in Europe only; while the native cap ; beneath that is a grit which shows signs of home of the others is Western Asia and Northern denudation previous to its having been covered, Africa. It is more than doubtful if the wild plum while its upper part has been metamorphosed by is native to Europe, since in the south, where it is the overflow. Beneath the grit come the usual supposed to be so, this species is living in hedges sandstones of varying structure, while in the and near dwellings with the appearance of a tree dongas below the base of the hill blue-grey shales scarcely naturalised. are exposed. Rejoining the road, leaving Plaat Bullace is to be found apparently wild south of Kop on the left, the grass-covered surface of the the Alps, in Turkey, and the regions round the SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 323

Caspian ; but it is likely that, though the hardy Persia ; P. insititia grows in a wild state in Cilicia, form with the round fruit may possibly have been Armenia, south of the Caucasus, and in the province native to Europe, the improved form has travelled Talysch, near the Caspian. It seems j)robable, like the plum from its original home in Asia. therefore, that these regions were the starting- That the buUace and wild plum may haxe had a places whence plum trees have spread themselves common origin is more conceivable than that the more or less throughout Eui-ope. sloe should have shared their ancestry. This From the time of Pliny old writers all relate matter, which brings us to the difficult subject of how, after the destruction of the city of Cerasus, origins of cultivated plants, is, like all origins, wrap- lying between Sinope and Trapazunt on the Pontic ped in mystery. These plants are far too new in the coast, the Roman general, the rich Lucullus, ti-ans- world's history to be found in the geological record planted cherry trees from that region ; into Italy. we can go no further back in their story than to Coming from a land of hard winters Prunus cerastis the remains of the lake dwellers of Italy, Switzer- was able to spread itself through a country where land, and Savoy, and the record there is not very P. avium seems to have been indigenous, so that easily read. In those remains are found many 120 years after the transplanting by Lucullus the stones of the blackthorn, few, and from one place cherry tree was growing on the Rhine, in Belgium, only, stones of Ptuiius insititia, and no stones at all and in Britain. In the Alps and northwards the of P. domestica. The ancient people who lived cherry is better flavoured than near the Mediter- above piles driven iato shallow lakes must have ranean. To-day the Tyrol, Switzerland, and Upper fared hardly, since they fed upon sour berries that Rhine are regions where the fruit thrives, and from we deem uneatable, though they may have been in the surplus harvest thereof in Switzerland is made a cooked state. From. this it may be inferred that the well-known cherry brandy, or " Kirschwasser." the wild plum in its half-naturalised state has The original home of P. oerasus seems undeter- not been in Europe more than some two thousand mined. All cultivated cherries come from two years. species, P. cerasus and P. avium, the gean. The From the fact that Cato only once mentions latter is wild in many places—Asia, north of Prunus, it is supposed that there could be no cultiva- Persia, Armenia, south of the Caspian, south of tion of the plum tree in orchards in his time. Russia, and in Europe generally from the south Virgil speaks of waxen talks of of Sweden to Greece, Italy, plums, and 0%ad and Spain ; also in "not only the black, but the nobler kind that Algeria. This gean, P. avium, was spread through borrow the hue of fresh wax." Plums were grafted Europe in prehistoric times, and must have been on to sloes, .according- to A^'irgil ; in the garden of in Italy before Lucullus transplanted P. cerasvs Horace plums grew on thorn trees. Columella from Pontus. knew three kinds of plums, and Pliny a number of As cherry gets its name from a place, Cerasus, varieties. The Roman name prunus came from whence a good variety at least was brought, so the the Greek 2}Toumnon. With the tree and its fruit peach and apricot, in their names Prunus persica the name prunus spread from Italy to Central and and P. arnieniaca, show clearly whence they came. Western Europe. Our English word "bullace"is Coming- from farther east than the cherry, their Celtic in origin, and sloe is the old Slavic sliva, fruits later reached Italy. It was only in the a plum. In early times the two, Prunus insititia middle of the first century of our era, when the and P. domestica, were not clearly distinguished Roman Empire came in touch with Armenia and from each other. It is the first of these, I the south shore of the Caspian, that the trees think, which, cultivated, produces the greengage. bearing them were brought to Italy, and gardeners In the Mediterranean region plums have not the asked high prices for the so-called Persian apples fine flavour of more northern districts. In Bosnia and Armenian plums. and Servia plums are cultivated most extensively. The almond, Prunus amygdalus, was brought There whole forests of plum trees provide the from Pontus, in Asia Minor, first to Athens, where chief food of the people for four or six weeks of it went by the name amygdale ; later to Italy, the year. The fruit is dried and exported as far where about 150 B.C. Cato called it nux Graeca. as America, pigs and plums being the coin in which A medical book of the early first century a.d.

these people pay for their importations. Great mentions sweet and bitter almonds ; and from that quantities of this abundant fruit are made into plum time the trees seem to have become almost as brandy, mostly drunk on the spot, but also exported common in Italy as they are to-day, when in in considerable quantities. How long plum culture January, Februarj', or March, as the season is has been going on in the borderland of Austria mild or otherwise, gardens are white with the and Turkey is unknown, but Herodotus alludes to blossoms that come before the leaves. the making of a drink fiom the berries in which The cherry laurel, Prunus lauro-cerasus, the North-east Europe is rich as an old Slavonian evergreen of our gardens, from the Levant, pro- national trait. duces, when it ripens here, most delicious fruit, as Prunus domestica is found wild in Anatolia, in I know, having eaten it cooked during one of the the country south of the Caspian, and in Northern hot summers when it abounded. M 2 3M SCIENCE- GOSSIP.

Primus imdus, the bird-cherry, is a northern The north temperate zone appears to be the tree, native to Arctic Europe and Siberia, abound- home of the genus Primus, which consists there ing in the north of our island, but not found wild of some seventy-five species. There are some few in the south. Its graceful long racemes of flowers others in the tropics, but not more, I think, than come with the new leaves, and the blooming of half a dozen. this bird-cherry, like that of the wild cherry, is Amhlcside, Fehruary 1902. one of the events of our northern spring.

OUR COCKROACHES.

By E. J. Burgess Sopp, F.R.Met.Soc, F.E.S.

(Continued frotn page 297.) OUR next division contains those insects that fined to the North Docks, which extend into the are truly indigenous to our islands. Omitting former township. Phyllodromia germanwa Stephens (-') had seven E. 2Mnzeri Steph. (fig. 9), the smallest of our si^ecies —viz., Blatta pallens, B. perspicillaris, B. British Blattidae, is of a lighter or darker testaceous ^anzeri, B. nigripes, B. livida, B. 2Mllida, and B. hire, the male measuring but five-sixteenths of an authorities have considerably inch (7-8 mm.) in length, and the rather lapponum ; but later female curtailed this list, so that to-day we regard three less. Apart from its average smaller size, it can only as undoubtedly native to Great Britain. They usually be easily separated from the preceding are all small and comparatively insignificant, and cockroach by the paler disc of the shield and' by are included in the single genus EctoMa. having the vertex of the head light. The dotted Although Ectobta lapponnm Linn. (fig. 5) often wing-cases of the male are lanceolate in form and entei-s houses in many parts of Europe it is not longer than the body, those of the female abruptly recorded as having done so in England. It is squared behind, as in the last species, but rather known from the following two by having the head shorter. Pronotum with brown markings ; legs and antennae black and the disc of the pronotum dark brown or testaceous ; cerci dark. " always dark ; it may also be readily distinguished E. panzeri is usually met with in sandy situa- from panzeri by its larger size " (Burr), from livida tions, often frequenting the neighbourhood of the by its darker colour. The elytra, which are testa- Aeolian dunes that form so characteristic a feature ceous with darker markings and spots, are fully of much of our coast-line. It does not, apparently, developed in the male, but in the female do not occur much north of the Thames Valley, most of reach to the middle of the abdomen. Its size, our records being from the southern counties of according to the compiler of the " Natural History England. Mr. Burr (2**) mentions it as common in of Insects," published at Perth in 1792, is "not Belgium, Holland, and France, and of occasional much larger than a fly," but as flies differ some- occurrence in Germany, Dalmatia, Ferrol, etc. My what in this respect it might be as well to add own specimens come from the coast near Col- that the usual dimensions vary from about three- chester and from Branksome Park, Bournemouth, eighths to seven-sixteenths of an inch (9-11 mm.) from which latter locality my friend Mr. Brockton in length in the male, the female being somewhat Tomlin has also sent me the larvae. These are smaller. Unlike the majority of the family this very distinct little creatures, having the pi-o- and insect can stand severe cold, and although nearly meso-notum effectively decorated with a dark all our records are from the South of England triangular figure. A variety of this insect, EctoMa there seems no reason, considering its far range panzeri var. nigripes, occasionally occurs. It is in Scandinavia, why it should not ultimately be considerably darker than the type and has black discovered further north. This is the species legs. Mr. Burr records it from the New Forest, of which Linnaeus wrote that it occasionally Devonshire, and Bournemouth, from which last- attacked the Laplanders' stocks of dried fish. Mr. named locality my own specimens also come. Burr states the insects are found during summer Our remaining indigenous cockroach, Ectoh'tM amongst dried leaves and nettles, under moss, and livida'¥ah\\ (fig. 10), barely exceeds five-sixteenths in similar situations. I believe the species also of an inch (8 mm.) in length. Its general hue is occurred at " sugar " to Mr. Milton at Brockenhurst lighter than that of the two preceding species, and during 1899. My .specimens are from Bootle, in it still further differs from them in having the Lancashire, where it would probably have been legs and cerci pale, the wings and elytra fully imported amongst timber, the bulk of the foreign developed in both sexes and reaching beyond the timber trade of the port of Liverpool being con- end of the body. When there is any difference in

" the alar organs of the cockroaches it is always the (27) "lUus. of Brit. Eiitoni." ; Kirby anil Spenoe, Intro, to

Brit. Entom." (2S) " Entomologist's Eecord," vol. xii. No. 8 (1900). SCIENCE- GOSSIP. !2S

males that have them most fully developed. This Mr. W. E. Sharp obtained it by sweeping in June little insect is usually taken by sweeping, or 1900. amongst leaves, etc., although it has also occurred In our final group ai'e included those cock-

by beating fir and oak at Broadwater Forest. Mr. roaches, three in number, that are found from time Burr records it as widely distributed over Central to time in our seaports, markets, etc. —insect.s and Southern Europe, it being', however, commoner which, although only occasional visitants, we can

11. Blatta (Stilopyga) orientalis Linn., female. 12. B. orientaJis Linu.. male. 13. Blahera giganlealAnn,, showing underside of cockroach, 14. Oijtheca of B. orientalis Linn. The lower figure exhibits arrangement of ova in au opened egg-purse, half the number of eggs being exposed to view. 15. Young nymph, B. oi-ientalis Linn. 16. Older nj'mph, exhibiting the prolongation of lateral margins of tlioraoic segments, or gradual growth of wings. 17. First five joints of antennae of male (J) and female (5) of B. orientalis Linn. (Drawn by E. J. B. Sopp.)

in the south than towards the northern limits of ill afford to omit. The section contains one of the- its range. Amongst his British localities are the Goliaths of the race, and many there be who will

New and Charlton Forests, Dorking, Bournemouth, rejoice that it is of rare occurrence in the land. Woking, Bognor, Itchenor, etc., whilst I have also BhyparoUa maderae Fabr. (fig. 3) is a large and received it from Branksome, near Bournemouth robust measuring from one and three- ; cockroach,

Ferndown, Dorset ; Tunbridge Wells, and Headley eighths to over one and a half inches (35-39 mm.) Lane, near Dorking, in Surrey, where my friend in length, the broad oval elytra, which reach beyond :

326 SCIENCE- GOSSIP. the apes of the abdomen, serving to give the to make a sharp rapping sound during the night- appearance of still more formidable dimensions. time in the old wooden houses \vhere it swarms in

The general colour of the upper surface is lightish- various parts. Cases are recorded in which it has brown with darker markings, the dividing vein on been known to attack dead and even dying persons the elytra being very distinct. The size of this by nibbling their extremities. handsome insect would alone prevent its being B. gigantea has been taken not uncommonly mistaken for either of the above-mentioned cock- along the London docks, as well as at Bradford, roaches, it being not only longer but of a generally Huddersfield, and one or two other places. For my much stouter build than Periplaneta americana., •' British " specimen of this handsome insect I am the only one at all approaching it iff sige,.,. indebted to my friend Mr. Willoughby Gardner, My own representative is from the Gaboon (or who received it some years ago from the Liverpool Gabun) district of West Africa, where the species docks. is very abundant, but the insect has occasionally (jro he coneluded.) been taken alive in and about the docks and markets of London. Leucophaea surinamcnsis Linn. (fig. 4) is a much EUBBLE DEIFT AND DRY CHALK smaller cockroach than our last, although ap- VALLEYS. parently varying considerably in size, one of my specimens scarcely attaining to nine-sixteenths of By Edward A. Martin, F.G.S. an inch (15 mm.) in length, whilst another from of the St. Paul's measures 24 mm., or veiy little short of "pRESTWICH was one earliest geologists -- an inch. The elytra are dark testaceous, the pro- to recognise that, beside the vai-ious sub- aerial, marine, and river-valley drifts, notum being shining black and narrowly but dis- there was a fourth that he designated the - rubble drift," tinctly bordered with orange along its anterior and first recognised in margin, thus imparting a very pleasing effect to which he 1851 in the Sangatte Cliff. This has also long been the upper surface of this attractive little insect. known under the " The elytra are fully developed in both sexes and general term of head," and it is this which is reach slightly beyond the apex of the abdomen- associated with all the raised beaches around our Upper surface of body brown with yellow mark- coasts. These raised beaches are all fairly uniform ings; legs brown. in structure, containing rounded local and foreign stones, but the rubble drift L. surlnameitsis is a cosmopolitan cockroach, naturally varies in according having spread with trade from its former haunts composition to locality, and as to whether it has formed to various parts of the globe. It has very rarely been near or far from the source of its constituent joarts. occurred in Britain. Mr. Burr, however, records it from Bognor, where two were taken a few years The raised beaches were probably continuous around all our southern coasts but the contour of ago by Mr. H. L. F. Guermonprez, who was of ; opinion they had been imported amongst bananas the coast being different at the time of formation from Madeira, and one has since occurred at Kew. from that which now obtains, the encroachments of The claim of this tropical insect to be included in the sea have very widely destroyed all traces of our lists thus rests on very slender grounds. them. The rubble drift, which in some places over The last, but by no means the least, of our occa- occurs immediately the raised beach, as at Brighton, also seen sional visitants is the Titan Blaljera gigantea Linn, Kemp Town, can be at the following places, in many cases, however, without (fig. 13), which has often been captured in Britain. This handsome hexapod attains from nearly two any beach, as though it were more extensive in and a quarter to two and tiiree-quarter inches its formation than the latter : —Margate, South-

Eastern railway station ; .the gaps on each side in extreme length ; the genus Blahcra, including of Foreland the cliffs of amongst its many species the largest cockroaches the North ; west Rams- gate South Foreland, by Kingsdown at present known (-"). Its upper surface is light ; ; Dover West Cliff, w^here inammoth remains have been found testaceous with a well-marked dark central patch ; on the disc of the shield, two dark patches on the Folkestone, under the Battery, with hippopotamus left elytron, and one on the right. The elytra are and mammoth remains ; under Eastbourne, again of considerable breadth, and altogether the size of with remains of hippopotamus and mammoth

Birling ; Cuckmere Valley ; Ouse Valley, this insect serves to at once distinguish it from all Gap

'• (s") Xewhaven, with bones of a species of our other species. This is the Drummer" of above Town, ; Rottingdean Brighton, at South America and the West Indies, so called from Elcplias ; Kemp Hove and the fact of its being supposed by natives and others including mammoth and hippopotamus ;

Portslade ; the Sussex Coast plain, at Worthing, (29) Tlie smallest members of the family, measuring less than Peppering, and Selsey, aiul especially near CJhi- the eighth of an inch, belong to the Genus Noctiluca, and were chester, where were mammoth remains ; Hayling discovered by M. Simon a few years ago in cases in the Philip- Island Portsea ; ]5embridge Point, Isle of Wight pines ("Camb. Nat. Hist.," vol. v.) ; ; " Freshwater Gate, mammoth being represented (30) Drury's Insects," iii. Preface. ; SCIENCE-GOSSIF. 327

Isle of Portland ; Chesilton ; Dawlish ; Hope's great waves of translation resulting from the sudden

Nose, Torquay ; many occurrences on south and elevation and breaking up of the Wealden area by north coasts of Devon and Cornwall ; and Porlock earthquake action ; but geologists do not now ajDpeal Bay, where are found remains of a submarine to catastrophic action as an explanation of the de- forest. nudation of the Weald. Prestwich was unable to support Godwin Austen's Lyell considered that the head as it appears at theory, which was supported by Lyell, that the Brighton " might have been heaped up above the large palaeozoic and crystalline boulders found in sea-level in the delta of a river draining a region the raised beaches and in the bed of the Channel of white chalk," with perhaps a slow subsidence had travelled along an old coast-line extending during accumulation. He thought that the large between Normandy and Sussex. At present the blocks and angular flints might have been trans- tidal movements carry pebbly beach up channel ported by the aid of ice, the river and its tribu- west to east ; but the presence of chalk flints in taries being occasionally frozen over. This seems the Devon raised beaches indicates that the move- the most reasonable explanation of " head." ment of materials was from east to west at the Mr. Clement Reid calls in the aid of a frozen time of their formation. The Ramsgate fishermen climate in ordei: to explain the origin of the are constantly meeting with obstacles to their numerous and now waterless chalk valleys. With trawling in the shape of granite and serpentine the ground frozen in a winter of Arctic severity to blocks that strew the bed of the ocean. Prestwich, a depth of several hundred feet, the otherwise therefore, concluded that such foreign blocks were permeable chalk would be rendered impermeable brought through the open Straits of Dover in the to the summer rains, and the surface waters then, arms of floes and bergs by a current from the according to Reid, carried down the angular chalky North Sea. Such ice-floes especially became debris which went to form the local coombe rock stranded in the bay that stretched from the west in the valleys and " head." coast of Sussex across to Bembridge. Clement Prestwich thought that after the formation of Reid has pointed out how great was the deposition the raised beaches the land was temporarily raised of these foreign blocks in this particular area, the 100 to 120 feet, and the sand dunes, vvhich Solent River then being perhaps in existence, but occasionally occur between the raised beach and the strait of Spithead not yet having been formed. the head, were formed. Then came a submergence It seemed most probable that the foreign boulders of about 1,000 feet. Much of the blown sand was of the raised beaches were derived from the denuded away, but the submergence did not last " crystalline, metamorphic, and palaeozoic rocks long enough for the establishment of a marine of Norway," or some of them possibly came from fauna. On the final uprise of the land which Germany and the Ardennes. followed, the deposition of the rubble drift com- The raised beaches may be regarded with menced, being caused by the displacement from a tolerable certainty as contemporaneous with the state of rest of a great body of water. In order lowest of the river drifts of the Thames and Sorame that the resulting formation, the head, .should be Valleys, also with the fauna of the cave epoch, in any way different from other deposits, I under- and these are but little removed in time from stand Prestwich to mean that the rise was sudden recent alluvial beds. The rubble or head, which and the resulting wave-action was of a cataclysmic contains mammoth remains, is therefore, accord- nature. This without ice would no doubt be ing to this chronology, more recent than the latest sufficient to transport the trail of debris over the valley drifts. West Sussex plain, with but a slight fall in the Certain drifts in the London basin, which Mr. surface. Whitaker places under " Doubtful Deposits," have Clement Reid has extended the application of

*' the appearance of a 'local wash," and many of his theory of the formation of frozen-soil gravels these drifts Prestwich places with the ' head," to the gravels of the Thames Valley. These so far as the cause of them is concerned. The terrace gravels, which we are accustomed to character of the head depends entirely upon the regard as marking successive stages in the excava- character of the local strata, and the fragments of tion of the Thames Valley by the river, may, he the harder portions of which it is composed are thinks, have after all been laid down contempo- sharp and angular. It follows the slopes of the raneously at all heights, the determination of the hills, and as it recedes from its base becomes sub- relative ages of such gravels by reference to angular. As it ranges from the chalk hills the heights above Ordnance data being of no value chalky element gradually disappears. The mass whatever. He believes that there were two distinct takes the colour and composition of a tertiary loam periods of Arctic cold, as evidenced in the south or brick earth. The fact that it contains the and east of England, and these were divided by a remains of land shells and land animals forms a mild episode when the characteristic Pleistocene sure guide in tracing the same formation inland or mammalian and moUuscan fauna inhabited this elsewhere. Murchison called it the angular flint country. The second glaciatiou not reaching drift, and considered it to have been caused by south of the Wash, the rain in non-glaciated areas 328 SCIENCE- GOSSIP. fell on the frozen soil, and thus led to extensive As the tides finally retired and the "pluvial"^ sheets of gravel. period ceased most of the coombes would be run Let us put Prestwich, Lyell, and Clement Eeid dry, the rainfall being not greater than could be into the melting-pot and adopt something from assimilated by the porous chalk. That marine each. As one who has been familiar with the dry shells are absent is true. If not explicable, as Sussex coombes for many years, I may perhaps suggested above, it cannot be denied that they express an opinion as to their mode of excavation may yet be foimd. and the formation of rubble di'ift. First of all, A j)oint in favour of this theory is the fact that the dry coombes must have been caused by water in some of the chalk rubbles there are found land action. Everybody is so far agreed. It is also shells, for in such cases we should have the waves allowed that the water must have been in motion. of retiring tides drawing denizens of the land inta The coombes emerge towards the sea with but few the sea and actually depositing rubble strata con- " " exceptions ; therefore the moving water must have taining land shells. Where head has been excavated and moved southwards. The Weald formed to any large extent there must have been, may have been covered with its beds continuously after the retiring sea had done its work, a com- from north to south. If so, the coombes which paratively large river in existence. In the case of then existed had not been denuded sufficiently the Brighton " head " there were two rivers which deeply to cut down below the level of the highest joined before the cliffs were reached. If, as part of the existing downs, except perhaps where geologists believe, the Weald was denuded during now are the gaps at Lewes, Devil's Dyke, Saddles- the course of an upheaval or upheavals over the comb, and the southerly flowing rivers now exist- central ridge, surely it is not assuming too much ing. Surely, however, the carving of these valleys to believe that, after another submergence and would commence long before the chalk finally another upheaval, that part of the Downs that protruded its head out of the sea at the close of its remained and was nearest the Weald continued to last period of submergence. I think with each uprise over and above the degxee to which the change of level, as the bed of the sea approached existing coast was raised. In that case the angle the surface, there would be a perfect tumult of of the fall of torrential waters would possibly be currents, and the more rapid the rise the more sufficient, with the occasional aid of ice-floes, to complicated and unsettled would be the courses deposit the head containing flints, angular because taken by such currents. As the land emerged, of the shortness of their journeys, together with Ter- which we all admit it did finally, however tiary sandstones, with their rough corners rounded. we may disagree on other points, the marine It may be that some gravel has been formed in currents would subside, but would in some cases the way brought forward by Mr. Clement Reid. be replaced by fresh-water streams, or even torrents, The great fault, however, with modern gravel owing to the saturation of the chalk beneath. I geologists is to " overburden the boat," to ride cannot account for the absence of marine shells in their own particular theories to the death by the valleys, but they may have all been decomposed endeavouring to cause them to explain too much, during the "pluvial" period, a process which, or, as in the case of Prestwich, by classing too indeed, goes on over the Downs in the case of dead many different deposits together under one name. land shells even now. The marine-shell question The most sensible view of rubble dejjosits seems need not trouble us. They are not found here on to be that of Mr. J. Allen Brown, who claimed that the Do\^-ns, yet no one ventures to say that the these had been formed at all times since the last chalk was not, all of it, under the sea at some time period of emergence. He also, very reasonably as or other, in Quaternary times. Up some of the I think, attributed the formation of much of the valleys formed under the sea,-the tides would still angular gravel to the removing action of subter- act and erode. Nothing is more porous than a ranean waters upon the- (?halk, the latter being beach of rounded flints. Yet the tides breaking on removed both in solution and mechanically. See the Brighton beach now form miniature hollow also Whitaker's " Guide to the Geology of London," coombes with rounded heights between, like, ed. 1901, p. 72, concerning the formation of " clay indeed, to downs in miniature. There the sea does with flints." the work, although in an instant it has sunk Given a pluvial period, a period of floods, there through the porous beach. Where is the necessity seems no reason why Lyell should not, after all, to argue for a frozen soil? Eepeated tides will IDrove to be correct in recognising, in some of the often flow through just the same ' miniature rubble drifts of Sussex at least, the deltaic work " coombes " over and over again, and these will of rivers piercing the Downs, in this way doing not necessarily be parallel to one another. Another away with the necessity of imagining a sub- point, too : the coombes which they make are gene- mergence of the land here to at least 1,000 feet rally clear of detrital matter, which in their case is (Prestwich), the lieight of the highest occurrence carried away to form a "rubble drift." perhaps of such drift elsewhere. beyond low tide, with mammalian remains, occa- 2?> Campbell lloacl, Crojidon, sionally in the shape of a dead dog or cat. March 1902. —

SCIENCE- G OSSIP.

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SCIENCE- G OSSIF. 329

AN INTKODUCTION TO BRITISH SPIDERS.

By Feank Percy Smith.

{Contiimed from page 299.)

FAMILY LYCOSIDAE. Pirata piraticus {Lycosa piratica Bl.) Length. Male 5 mm., female 6 mm. In this family the four posterior eyes are, as a rule, Cephalo-thorax yellowish-brown with lateral, but much larger than the four anterior, a,nd form a not marginal, dark bands. A very comnion species. quadrilateral figure upon the upper surface of the caput. in We may consequence refer to the eyes Pirata hygrophilus Thor. {Lycosa piseatoria. as being placed in three transverse rows of 4, 2, 2. Bl.1.) The tarsal claws are three in number. Length. Male 6 mm. , female 7 mm. The Lycosidae spin no snare, but hunt their prey

' upon the ground or low herbage, the term ' wolf- spider " being consequently applied to many of the representatives of this family. Some species are able to run upon the surface of water, these being commonly known as " raft - spiders.

GENUS PISAURA SIM.

In this genus the eyes are not very greatly un- equal in size, and the second row is much shorter

than the first. The clypeus is high. The legs are long and rather slender. The radial joint of the male palpus is provided with an apophysis.

Pisaura mirabilis Clk. {Dolomedes mirabilis

Bl., Ocyah mirabilis (Z\>. Length. Male 10 mm., ema e 14 mm.

This fine species is common in most parts of the country, running rapidly amongst low herbage.

GENUS DOLOMEDES LATR.

The spiders included in this genus are very similar to Pisaiira. They are, however, of a far more robust form. The tarsi and metatarsi are pro- vided with scopulae.

Pisaiira mirabilis Clk. a. Profile of Female, legs and palp fimbriatus Walck. Dolomedes [Dolomedes b. ; of truncated ; Palpus of Male c. Vulva ; d. Eyes fimbriattis + D. ornatus in " Spiders of Great Female, viewed from in front. Britain and Ireland.")

Length. Male 12 mm., female 20 mm. Cephalo-thorax yellowish-brown with dark lateral This handsome spider is almost invariably found in and marginal bands. Common. swamps and marshes, but is rather uncommon. Pirata latitans Bl. {Lycosa latitaiis Bl.) GENUS PIRATA SUND. Length. Male 4 mm., female 5 mm. Cephalo-thorax dull dark-brown. Not rare. Eyes of second row much larger than those of first row. Superior spinners decidedly longer than the Pirata knorrii Scop. inferior. Radial joint of male palpus without Length. Male 5 mm., female larger. apophysis. Legs distinctly annulated. A very rare species.

Pirata piseatoria Clk. GENUS TROCHOSA. Length. Male 9 mm., female 11 mm. Cephalo-thorax dull yellow-brown with dark lateral The spiders included in this genus are, as a rule,, bands. These bands are furnished with a dense larger and more robust than Pirata. The superior coating of brilliant white hairs. Rare. spinners are not longer than the inferior. The M 3 ) ) )

330 SCIENCE- GOSSIP.

anterior row of eyes is never less than the second Eyes of anterior row equally separated. This row row. is distinctly shorter than the second. Not uncommon.

Trochosa ruricola Degeer. {Lycosa campestris Tarentula cuneata Clk. Bl.) Length. Male 6 mm., female 8 mm. Length. Male 9 mm., female 13 mm. Closely allied to T. piilvcriilenta, but the tibiae ot The palpus of the male is terminated by a short the anterior legs of the male are dark and swollen. claw, and the fang of each falx has a small knob- Rare. like projection on its outer side. A very common species. Tarentula accentuata Latr. {Lycosa an- drenivora Bl. Trochosa robiista Sim. Length. -Male 8 mm., female 9 mm. Length. Male 10 mm., female 15 mm. This species may be distinguished from T. piilvent- May be distinguished in the male sex from lenta by the distance between the anterior central T. ruricola by the absence of the projection upon eyes being greater than that between one of them the fang. Very rare. and the adjacent lateral. Not uncommon.

Trochosa terricola Thor. (Lycosa agretyca Tarentula fabrilis Clk. Bl.) Length. Male 12 mm., female 15 mm. Length. Male 7 mm., female 12 mm. This spider may be at once recognised by its large This species may be distinguished from the fore- size. The anterior central eyes are larger than the going by the absence of the terminal claw of the male laterals, and the anterior row is almost as long as the palpus. It is common. second. A very rare species. Trochosa spmipalpis F. Cb. Length. Male 8 mm., female 10 mm. Tarentula aculeata Clk. Length. Male female larger. The radial joint of the male is furnished with a 9 mm., nearly allied to T. pulveruhnta, but the legs number of stout spines towards its fore extremity on Very the inner side. Rare. compared with the cephalo-thorax are considerably longer. The whole spider, too, is much larger than Trochosa leopardns Sund. {Lycosa canibrica T. pulveruleuta. Very rare. Bl.)

Length. Male 7 mm., female 9 mm. Tarentula trabilis Clk. This species may be distinguished by the extremely Length. Male 9 mm., female larger. narrow digital joint of the palpus of the male. Not The humeral joint of the male palpus is furnished common. with a longitudinal row of black bristly hairs. Ex- tremely rare. Trochosa cinerea Fabr. {Lycosa allodroma Bl. Length. Male 16 mm., female 17 mm. Tarentula miniata Koch. Allied to T. leopardus, but easily distinguished by Length. Male 5.5 mm., female larger. /eason of its large size. Cephalo-thorax dark brown, with a broad central Trochosa picta Hahn. and narrow marginal reddish-yellow bands. Femora of local species. Length. Male 7 mm., female 8 mm. legs distinctly annulated. A

The digital joint of the male palpus is very narrow, but not so much so as T. leopaj-dus. It may be dis- GENUS LYCOSA LATR. Pardosa Sim.) tinguished from that species by the brilliantly coloured The spiders of this genus may be recognised by the abdomen. It is not uncommon. almost perpendicular sides of the caput. The clypeus Trochosa hiunguiculata Cb. is high, and the legs are long and considerably at- Length. Male 8 mm. tenuated towards their extremities. The Lycosae are active spiders, usually found running upon Digital joint terminated by two short claws. Very extremely rare. low herbage, dead leaves, or even upon the bare ground. The females carry their lenticular egg-sacs GENUS TARENTULA SUND. attached to the spinners. The spiders of this genus are not by any means sharply separated from Trochosa. In the present Lycosa amentata Clk. (Z. saccata Bl. case the anterior row of eyes is never longer, but is Length. Male 6 mm., female 8 mm. usually shorter than the second row. The clypeus, Anterior central eyes somewhat larger than the too, is usually higher than in Trochosa. laterals. Palpi of male very dark. Radial and digital joint clothed with coarse black hairs. Near

Tarentula pulverulenta Clk. {Lycosa rapac^ the centre of the palpal organs is a curved, sharp-

BLl pointed spine. This species is very common and Length. Male 6 mm., female 9 mm. widelv distributed. )

SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 331

Lycosa arenicola Cb. comparatively longer than in the closely related Length. Male 6 mm., female 8 mm. species Z. pnllata. Not common.

May be distinguished from L. amentata, which it much resembles, by the very narrow central band Lycosa lugubris Wlk. upon the thorax. The digital joint of the male palpus Length. Male 5.5 mm., female 6.5 mm. thorax is is furnished with a short curved spine. A rather rare The of the male furnished with a broad species. central band thickly clothed with whitish hairs. The digital joint of the palpus is very narrow, and the

Lyeosa agricola Thor. {L. Jiuviatih's Bl.) palpal organs are small. This species is very common

Length. amongst dead leaves, and is almost invariably found Very nearly allied to L. arenicola. The central in or near woods. thoracic band, however, is dilated towards its fore extremity, and the legs are annulated. Very local. Lycosa lierbigrada Bl. Length. Male 5 mm., female 7 mm. Lyeosa annulata Thor. The tarsi and metatarsi of the first pair of legs of Length. Male 5 mm., female 6.5 mm. the male are somewhat swollen. The central thoracic

Closely allied to L. amentata. The present band in both sexes is broad and strongly constricted

-species, however, is smaller, paler, and, as a rule, near its centre. This species is uncommon. more distinctly coloured. The palpal organs of the male lack the curved spine found in Z. amentata, Lycosa palustris Linn. this portion of structure being replaced by a short, Length. Male 5 mm., female 6.5 mm. somewhat oval process. A common species. Very closely allied to Z. herbigrada, but the cen-

tral thoracic band is narrow. The separation of these Lycosa nigriceps Thor. two species is rendered difficult, however, by the

Length. Male 6 mm. , female 5 mm. 7. occurrence of, apparently, intermediate forms. A Ocular area black. Legs never annulated. Pale common species. bands on the cephalo- thorax very broad. Not un- common. Lyeosa montieola Clk.

Length. Male 5 mm., female 6.5 mm. Lycosa farrenii Cb. This species may be distinguished in the male sex Length. Male 5 mm., female larger. from Z. herbigrada and Z. palust7-is by the tarsi and The radial joints of the male palpi are of a swollen metatarsi of the first pair of legs being of the normal form. Rare. form and not swollen. A common species.

Lycosa tra.illii Cb. Lyeosa purbeekensis F. Cb. Length. Male 6 mm., female 8.5 mm. Length. Male 7 mm., female 9 mm. Very similar to L. amentata. Palpus of male Closely allied to Z. montieola, but usually con- terminating with a strong curved spine. Very rare. siderably larger in size. The metatarsi of the first pair of legs also are furnished with a large number of Lycosa proxiraa Koch. long coarse bristles. Local. Length. Male 5 mm. , female 6 mm.

is in general appearance to This spider very similar FAMILY OXYOPIDAE. Z. amentata. It is, however, smaller, and the palpi of the male are less hairy. The digital joint, too, is The spiders of this family have usually the eight more narrow in form. The palpal organs have near eyes in four unequal rows. The legs are long, fur- their centre a short obtuse process. Rather un- nished with numerous conspicuous spines, and are uncommon. terminated by three tarsal claws.

Lycosa pullata Clk. (Z. obscura Bl. GENUS OXYOPES LATR. Length. Male 5 mm., female 6 mm. Eyes of front row very small. Second and fourth This spider is closely allied to Z. proxima, but the rows of nearly equal length. Clypeus very high. legs are less distinctly annulated, and the palpal Legs long and very spinose. organs of the male are provided with an oblique spine-like process in place of the obtuse one found in Oxyopes lineatus Latr. {Sphasus lineatus Bl.) that species. Common. Length. Female 6 mm. , male smaller.

This species is the only known representative of Lyeosa prativaga Koch. the genus in Britain, and is exceedingly rare. Length. Male 6.5 mm., female 7.5 mm. This species is closely allied to Z. proxima. The FAMILY SALTICIDAE. palpi of the males are long, the digital joint is narrow, and terminates in a strong claw. Near the centre of The spiders constituting this family are commonly

the palpal organs is a curved pointed spine, which is known as " lumping spiders." They may be at once M 4 ) ) ) )

332 SCIENCE- GOSSIP.

ecognised by the peculiar arrangement of the eyes. brown, the tarsi of all and the metatarsi of the first Four eyes of large size form the anterior row, and the and second pairs being paler. Humeral apophysis remaining four eyes, usually of much smaller size, bifid. Extremely rare. form a quadrangular figure upon the upper part of rhe caput. The tarsal claws are two in number. GENUS MARPESSA KOCH. GENUS SALTICUS LATR. This genus differs from Saltieus and Heliophanus by the posterior coxae being almost contiguous. The Caput shorter than thorax. Posterior coxae well tibiae of the first pair of legs are very short ; hardly, separated at base. Length of patella + tibia of if any, longer than the patellae. third leg less than the same portion of the fourth.

Femoral and tibial spines absent. Metatarsi either Marpessa muscosa Clk. [Saltieus tardi- without spines or with a few at the extremity. gradtis Bl. Length. Male. 11 mm., female 12.5 mm. Saltieus seenieus Clk. {Epible?ii^un scenum/i Humeral joint of male palpus with a protuberance in •'' Spiders of Dorset."') towards its extremity. Digital joint very broad. Male female mm. Length. 5.5 mm., 6.5 The whole spider presents a peculiar speckled This spider is very common on garden walls, and appearance. It is not uncommon, being found in may be distinguished from most of its allies by the crevices in wooden fences, from which it occasionally two oblique bands of white hairs upon the abdomen. emerges in search of prey. The radial joint of the male palpus is furnished with

a sharp-pointed curved apophysis. Marpessa melanognatha Luc. [M. nig?-o- liiiibata Cb. Saltieus cingulatus Panz. [Epiblemum cingu- Length. Male 7 mm., female 8 mm. latwii in " Spiders of Dorset.") This rare species may be distinguished by its black Closely resembles .S". seenieus in size and markings. cephalo-thorax. The white abdominal bands, however, are broader,

and the radial apophysis is rather obtuse. Not Marpessa pomatia Walck. {Saltieus black- common. ivallii -f [?] S. promptus in "Spiders G. B. and I.")

Length. Male 7 mm., female 8 mm. Saltieus aflB.nitatus Cb. {Epihle/mun affini- Cephalo-thorax yellow, with ocular area and fatiiin in " Spiders of Dorset.") margins black. Extremely rare. Length. Male 3 mm. Allied to both S. sceiiiais and S. cingulatiis. It

is, however, much smaller, and the radial apophysis GENUS DENDRYPHANTES KOCH. seems to be intermediate in form between these two This genus is closely allied to Saltieus, but the species. Extremely rare. femora and tibiae are furnished witli spines.

GENUS HELIOPHANUS KOCH. Dendryphantes hastatus Koch. This spider, our only representative of the genus, This genus differs from Saltieus by the possession is very rare. of numerous metatarsal spines. The humeral joint of the male palpus is furnished with a distinct GENUS HYCriA Sim. apophysis. The patella of the third leg is shorter Closely allied to Marpessa, but the tibiae of the than that of the fourth. The anterior row of eyes is first pair of legs are much longer than the patellae. straight or nearly so.

nivoyi Luc. Heliophanus eupreus Walck. [Saltieus Hyctia This rare species is very similar in general colour- cupretts in partem. Bl. ing to Marpessa pomatia. It is extremely rare. Length. Male 4 mm., female 5 mm. Abdomen with white markings. Legs with longi-

' tudinal black markings. Humeral apophysis simple. GENUS BALL US. Not uncommon. This genus differs from the preceding by the caput being as long, or almost as long, as the thorax. Legs Heliophanus flavipas Koch. 4, I, 2, 3. Length. Male 3.5 mm., female 4.5 mm. Abdomen without white markings. Legs of male Ballus deprsssus Walck. [Saltieus obseurus striped, of female unicolorous. Plumeral apophysis BL) bifid. Uncommon. Length. Male 3 mm., female 4 mm. Heliophanus expers Cb. The only British representative of the genus. It

Length. Male 4. 5 mm. is rather rare. be eoiieludid. Abdomen with white markings. Legs blackish- ( To ;

SCIENCE- G OSSIF. 333

SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION IN MAN.

By J. L. F. Mitchell, M.A.

NOT only to science and progress in it, do we The end of this remarkable case was, that a owe many comforts and luxuries of life, but short time after the same man Stauf was arraigned freedom from delusion and intellectual slavery. for poisoning his master. He was found guilty Its progress has been slow but sure, and the and then it dawned upon the public mind that, prospect of an endless continuance of its advance after all, he might have killed his mistress. The through the coming centuries of time gives to the body was accordingly exhumed, and it was then mind a feeling of intense satisfaction. found that, although the head and skitll were It is not very long since poor creatures were burnt, the tongue protruded from the mouth in a bm'nt for witchcraft, and as recently as 1633 very unnatural way. After close examination the Galileo was imprisoned for saying the earth moved authorities were convinced that she had been round the sun —a statement which not the smallest previously strangled. Stauf was accordingly con- schoolboy would now dare to deny for very shame. victed, meeting with merited punishment. It is somewhat astonishing that so late as 1850 This case happened so recently as 1850, and the medical faculty were not sufficiently enlight- since that time the theory of " spontaneous com- ened to be able to deny straight out the assertion bustion " of animals has been proved, especially by by some among their number that the Countess Liebig, to be as false as it is absurd. However, such Goerlitz died from spontaneous combustion. As a thing as spontaneous combustion does occur, as a fact she was murdered, but the deed was so when hay, cotton, tow, flax, or hemp in large quan- cunningly concealed that the person accused was tities becomes heated by fermentation, when com- at the time acquitted. The facts of the case are bustion, which is evidently spontaneous, may ensue. briefly these. The Countess, with her husband, Liebig has clearly proved that it is impossible for

had a valet named Stauf . One day, upon enter- the human body to so ignite and burn. He says ing her bedroom, she beheld him rifling one of " a fat dead body charged with alcohol may burn^ the drawers in which she kept her jewellery and but a living body, in which the blood is circu- in the act of appropriating some. After being- lating, cannot under any circumstances." remonstrated with he menaced her ; a scuffle and It would be curious to relate, if it were not struggle ensued, in which he seized her by the tolerably well known, that cited cases of spon- throat, and in a word strangled her. He then taneous combustion of human bodies have generally fastened the door to prevent anybody entering. been those of confirmed drunkards and drinkers This seems to have been before seven in the even- to excess of brandy or other form of alcohol. ing. At about that hour her husband knocked at One well-known case is that of Madame Millet the door. Eeceiving no answer, and imagining in 1725. She was given to alcohol drinking, and her to be asleep, he retired. It would appear that one morning the remains of her body were found in the interval between this and nine o'clock Stauf in the kitchen, about eighteen inches from the open put the body of his mistress into a chair, set fire fire-place. She had burned to death, her head, to her dress, and burned her to hide the real cause legs, and vertebrae only being left. Her husband, of death. This he effected so skilfully that none Millet, was accused of murdering her, the ground of the bed-clothes were even scorched, and the of accusation being that he had a pretty servant chair but little injured. He then effected his re- girl with whom he had an intrigue. In this case

treat, securing the door after him. About nine his innocence was proved ; but instead of account- o'clock her husband again returned, and on finding ing for the cause of death in what is now seen to the door still locked became somewhat alarmed be a sensible manner, the verdict was that the wife and forcibly broke it open. He found nothing but had died from " spontaneous combustion." This a charred mass instead of his wife, whom he had instance is sufficient to show the cause of the com- last seen in health and strength. Of course an bustion of the human body in forty-five to forty- inquest was held. Curious to relate, the theory of eight cases that have occurred under similar cir- " spontaneous combustion " had so taken posses- cumstances. From the fact that Madame Millet was sion of the scientific minds of the time, and for so but eighteen inches from the open fire-ialace and in long a period, that Stauf, who had been accused a state of intoxication we may conclude that her of the murder, was acquitted. It was argued that garments had caught alight, and being naturally inasmuch as the things in the room, and even the bereft of all control and all presence of mind, she bed-clothes, were unsinged she could not have had simply perished in the flames. of been burnt to death in the ordinary way ; there- Another very absurd case related is that a fore, since she did die by burning, she did so by tailor, Lariviere, and his wife, who, both intoxicated, spontaneous combustion. were left at 7 p.m., and found dead the next ;

334 SCIENCE- GOSSIP. morning at eleven. This, again, was decided to be volatile nature of the vapour of spirit, has no doubt a case of spontaneous combustion, the fact being led to the false conception. forgotten that they had been left in the room with It is known that charcoal impregnated with oil a burning charcoal fire, which had at once added is liable to acquire spontaneously a temperature to their stupefaction and set them alight, leaving- leading to unexpected combustion ; phosphorus them a chai-red mass. also, when dry; and the well-known mixture of Another famous case is that of Signora Cornelia iron filings an d sulphur, moistened with a little Zangair Baudi, aged seventy-two, living near water, if buried a short distance below the surface Cesena, in Romagna, March 1731. She retired to of the ground, " will of itself, after several hours, rest, and in the morning was found reduced to burst forth in a state of ignition," resembling a ashes, her face, legs, skull, and three fingers miniature volcano ; but it has never yet been remaining, but her stockings and shoes not in the found that the human body will burn while the least burnt. It was generally believed that it was blood is in circulation. The heat applied must a case of " internal combustion." The lady rose be so intense as first to evaporate all the from her bed to refreshen herself, and while water, when circulation ^\ill stop ; and then she went to the window to open it the combustion the body may be burnt, but not before. In had flung her down, consuming her body without the case of the Countess Cornelia Baudi, there- any flame, which could set fire to the flooring or fore, since it is admitted that she got out of bed to the furniture. Rev. Signer Bianchiui, the pre- open the window for air, and that there were bendary of Verona, accounted for this by the fact candles on the table, it is most certain that her that she used a bath of camphorated spirits of dress must have caught fire and have been the direct wine, that her frame had become impregnated cause of death. If Charles Dickens was forced to " with the inflammable spirit, and that therefore the believe in spontaneous combustion," so called, we cause of death was '• spontaneous combustion." It can easily account for Captain Marryat doing so was not stated that the room was heated by an in 1831. He describes the death of the mother of open fire-place, by which she no doubt was burnt. Jacob Faithful thus: "She perished in that very

It. is a curious fact that such cases are rare in peculiar and dreadful manner which does some- Germany and Russia, where the rooms are heated times, though rarely, occur to those who indulge by closed stoves and not by open grates. in an immoderate use of spirituous liquors—from of It is again very remarkable to fiiid how spontaneous combustion, an inflammation the tenaciously this theory had clung to the minds of gases generated from the spirits absorbed into the even the most scientific when we read of a case system." relation spirit drinking and happening so late as 181:7 as "unexplained." A The close between man, a confirmed spirit drinker, went to bed with death by burning is so obvious as to furnish a suggestion for such death but Liebig's a hot brick at his feet, and was found in the simple a ; morning dead and bm-nt to a cinder. So the statement is ample refutation of this popular error. " Regent Square, London. Gazette Medicale," September -1, 1847, relates. Assuming that there is no evidence forthcoming to account rationality for such an effect, one would A Daein'G Bat. —Mr. B. Harvey-Jellie records " think the comment upon it would rather have in the '-Entomologist that, in the full light of a

'• lantern, a bat settled by the side of a iJatch of been : To be explained by some natural cause " sugar " and ate one of the moths that had been not forthcoming or concealed by those who re- attracted by the bait. ported the occurrence." Again, as late as 1853, when Dickens's "Bleak House " was published, the Algol Stars.—Professor E. C. Pickering gives particulars in the •' Harvard College Observatory author fully believed in, if he were not fully con- Circular" of some adtlitioual observations of vinced of—assuming, as we must, that his preface recently discovered variables that have been ob- was an exponent of his sentiments—the possibility tained from examination of the photographs taken of the spontaneous combustion of the human body. with the 8-inch Draper telescope. This gentleman Owing to the quantity of water in the human was recently presented with a silver cup, by the staff of the Harvard College Observatory, on the body, Liebig shows that it is plainly impossible. comxjletion of twenty-five years' work as Director A sponge saturated with alcohol will not burn till of the Observatory. all the spirit has been consumed, and even then Geological Society Awards. The medals not at all until the whole of the watery moisture — and funds of the Geological Society of London are it contains has been evaporated. So of the human awarded as follows :- The Wollaston medal to body. It is clear that even if all the tissues were ill-. Friedrich Schmidt, of St. Petersburg ; the saturated with spirit, and this caught alight, it Lyell medals to Mr. R. Lydekker and Professor

might burn, but it would go out long before it was Anton Fritsch, of Prague ; the Murcliison medal

Harmed- ; the Wollaston fund possible to consume any appreciable amount of the to Mr. F. W. to

I\Ir. L. J. Spencer ; the Murchison fund to Mr. T. flesh. The fact of spontaneous combustion being H. Holland ; the Lyell fund to Dr. Wheelton Hind possible and manifesting itself in mineral and and the Barlow-Jameson fund to Mr. W. M. organic substances, combined with the extremely Hutchings. ":

SCIENCE- G OSSIF. 335

of explanatory letterpress. This atlas is too well known to require special commendation. Food and Drugs. By Charles Higginson.

XX + 203 i3p., Ih in. x 5 in. (London: Effingham Wilson. 1902.)" 3s. 6d. net. The object of the author in the work before us is to consolidate in a readable form the four Acts at present in operation in connection with the selling of food and drugs. Legislation in this respect having been somewhat piecemeal, it is not easy ta NOTICES BY JOHN T. CARRINGTON. understand the relation of one Act to another without the aid of some work of this description. Old Time Gardens. By Alice Morse Earle. Reports of test cases are given in some instances of a clause. Mr. xviii + 489 pjD., 8 in. x 6 in., with numerous illus- to illustrate the exact meaning trations and plates. (New York and London Higginson's method has been to take the Act of 1875 of subsequent Acts in it, Macmillan & Co. 1902.) 8s. 6d. and embody the provisions far This charming work must appeal to all lovers of so that the reader may see at a glance how flowers and gardens. It has been produced with they modify or enlarge its operation. The four great taste, and the illastrations alone are worth Acts are printed in full at the end of the work, as the expenditure of the price of the book. The well as the General Orders issued by the Local gardens described mostly belong to New England, Government Board. The volume before us is the many of them having been planted and tended by second edition, and has been efficiently brought up the immediate descendants of the little band of to date. Mr. Higginson may be congratulated on Puritan men and women who, under the leader- having brought out a handbook which will afEord drugs, .ship of John Winthrop, were the founders of valuable assistance to all traders in food and the City of Boston, U.S.A. It was only natural whether wholesale or retail. that the home-sick emigrants should, immediately Nature's Mysteries. By A. P. SiNNETT. 7| in. x try create to the they had leisure, to a resemblance 5 in., 184 pp. (London and Benares : Theosophical fair English homes they had left hj planting seeds Publishing Society. 1901.) 2s. " and roots of English flowers in the " old country The volume before us consists, with a few modifi- fashion. Many of these •' old time gardens " of a cations and additions, of a series of articles that far-off country are therefore twin sisters to those recently appeared in the " Sun " newspaper. The with which we are so familiar in the manor author has endeavoured to show that investigation grounds of English villages. We would especially along recognised lines of scientific research will, if call the attention of our readers to the quaint sufficiently extended, lead to an explanation of many device on the title page, which is an ancient mysteries now ranked as supernatural. He further •' garden-knot " for flowers taken from " A New maintains that it is impossible to properly study Orchard and Garden," by William Lawson, 1G08. the invisible world of consciousness without having The authoress must have devoted much time and at least a groundwork of knowledge of the physical careful preparation before writing this book, and aspect of matter, as one constantly meets with we sincerely hope some lover of gardens willsee analogies between the two. Mr. Sinnett states that his way to producing a work on similar lines on as it is ]Dossible for the Rontgen rays to pass freely those of " Old England."—i^. W. through masses of atoms such as flesh, which until recently were considered impenetrable, so it is Bird Hunting on the lV7iite Nile. By Harry equally feasible for clairvoyants to be able to see F. WiTHERBY. 117 pp., 8J in. x 5f in., with " through matter, read letters enclosed in envelopes, several illustrations. (London : Knowledge such like phenomena. The book is one well Office. 1902.) 2s. 6d. and it suggests new ideas, and Besides the useful additions to our knowledge worth reading, as many easy, fluent style. cannot, of the ornithology of the Soudan, Mr. Witherby is written in an We however, agree with the author in many of his con- lias succeeded in placing before his readers a regard to the " Story pleasantly written description of his travels and clusions, especially that with of Atlantis." also think that in writing of the adventures. The work is copiously illustrated from We better than savages," Mr photographs taken by Mr. F. C. Camburn, who Druids as "not much amount of time accompanied the author as taxidermist, and also Sinnett has not devoted the same by some wash drawings made from photographs to the study of their history, as to such subjects as taken by Mr. Witherby. Although unable to spiritualism and clairvoyance. obtain many mammals in the district explored, the The Flora of Derbyshire. By the Rev. W. H. author has added three new species to those Painter. Ill pp., 9 in. x 5^ in. (Leeds: Chorley already known. Lists of all mammals and birds 6 Pickersgill. 1902.) 3s. 6d. net. obtained have been added to the book as appen- It will be remembered that in 1889 Mr. Painter dices. With a few alterations the chapters are issued his " Contribution to the Flora of Derby- reprinted from " Knowledge," in which journal shire." This little work now ofEered is supple- they appeared as articles during 1901. mentary, and contains a considerable amount of information that has been accumulated in the Atlas of Practical Zootomy. By G. B. Howes. interval by resident botanists and others. A large LL.D., F.R.S., with 24 plates. 12 in. x 9 in. proportion of this supplement is devoted to the (London and New York : Macmillan & Co. 1902.) mosses, which are a lengthy list. 10s. net. Derbyshire This is a revised edition of Dr. Howes's well- Thomas Henry Huxley. By Edward Clodd. known Atlas of Zootomy. It is founded on the xiii + 226 pp., 7f x 5 in. (Edinburgh and London : Huxleian " Type System," and consists of a series Blackwood & Sons. 1902.) 2s. 6d. of beautifully drawn plates, with two pages each This is an addition to the series of "Modem 336 SCIENCE- GOSSIP.

English Writers." Mr. Clodd has consequently Messrs. Longmans the plate representing the been obliged to write somewhat sketchily, as this Textulariidae. The descriptions are generic, with series does not attempt to give an exhaustive bio- examples of one species in each genus. At tlie end graphy of the authors under notice. He has, how- will be found a useful chapter dealing wdth the ever, given amply sufficient to raise the interest of collection of both living and fossil forms. his readers. Having had the advantage of Mr. Class-look of Geology. By Sir Archibald " " of Leonard Huxley's Life and Letters his father Geikie, F.E.S. xxi -t- 454pp., 7f in. x Sin. Hlus- for reference, it is not to be wondered that Mr. Clodd trated Avith 225 figs. (London and oSTew York: lias been successful in placing within his pages so Macmillan & Co. 1902.) 5s. much information with regard to Professor Huxley. The fourth edition of this useful handbook for

TEXTcrLARiiDAi:. {From. '• Foraminifera," by F. Cha2»nan:)

Forammifera. By Frederick Chapman, A.L.S., class-work in geology has been brought up to the F.R.M.S. XV + 354 pp., 9 in. x 6 in., with 14 plates present standard of knowledge in this subject. and 42 other illustrations. (London, New York, Much of the matter in the former editions has been and Bombay: Longmans, Green k, Co. 1902.) rearranged, and even to some extent rewritten. 9s. net. Fuller refei-ences have also been made to the The sub-title of this book is " An Introduction geology of North America. The Table of the to the Study of the Protozoa." It will be found Vegetable and Animal Kingdoms in the Appendix useful, not only to the student of these beautiful has been fully revised, with the assistance of atoms of nature, but also to microscopists gene- Dr. F. L. Kitchin. The index to the volume is rally. It is a concise account of the foraminifera especially complete, and must greatly increase the copiously illustrated. We give by permission of value of the work to any student. SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 337

More Tales of the Birds. By W. Warde and condition of the institution. Accompanying Fowler. 232 pp., 7| in. x 5 in., with 8 plates. these are some "700 pages of selected articles, {London and New York: MacmiUans. 1902.) copiously and beautifully illustrated. They vary 3s. 6d. greatly in subjects, and are generally of much We can strongly recommend this prettily illus- interest. trated bird-book as a gift for young people. It A Popular History of the Ancient Britons. By consists of a series of stories in which birds of the Rev. John Evans, B.A. viii -i- 414 pp., 9^ in. x

various kinds form subjects. By permission of the Gin. (London : Elliot Stock. 1901.) 10s.6d.net. publishers we reproduce one of the plates to show In writing this work the Rev. Mr. Evans is really

" The Last of the Bahoxs." {From Warde Fowler''s " Tales of the Birds")

how picturesquely they have been drawn. It is dealing with the Welsh people, and his object is entitled "The Last of the Barons." to continue their history up to modern times, as

Smitltsonian Institution. Ixv -f- 759 pp., 9|- in. x most of the other bc^ks dealing with the subject

6 in. Illustrated. (Washington : Government end at the time of the conquest of Wales by Printing Office. 1901.) Edward I. at the close of the thirteenth century. The annual report of the Board of Regents of During the nineteenth century much ancient the Smithsonian Institution for the year ending- literature of Wales was examined by competent June 30th, 1900, is before us. It consists of the scholars with Government aid. This has to some usual statements on the operations, expenditures extent assisted the author of this useful book. ;

SCIENCE- GOSSIP.

Harvard College Observatory has been for twenty-five years under the able directorship of Professor E. C. Pickering, and its staff' have marked their appreciation of his labours by presenting him with a silver cup.

By the death, at the age of sixty-five, of Hofrath Professor Moriz Kaposi dermatological science in general and the University of Vienna in particular have sustained a great loss. Since the death, in 1880, of his colleague and father-in-law. Professor CONTRIBUTED BY THE REV. J. M. COBBETT, Hebra, Dr. Kaposi had considered the leading B.A. OXON. been exponent of this branch of pathology. We greatly regret that in consequence of the serious illness of Mr. Carrington, and also of Miss It is announced that, through the Aero Club, F. Winstone, the Editors, this number of Science- Mr. C. A. Pearson has offered M. Santos-Dumont a Gossip has been delayed in publication. prize of £4,000 to make a flight in his airship from London to Birmingham. The offer was made at We are pleased to announce that Dr. H. C. first directly to the aeronaut ; but in coiupliance Lang is recovering from his indisposition in the with M. Dumont's special wish Mr. Pearson then genial climate of Andalusia. It is expected that offered the prize to the Aiiro Club, to be competed his articles on Palaearctic Butterflies will be con- for openly, as in the case of the Deutsch Prize, tinued in the June number. which was of the same amount. The flight will SiGNOR Marconi seems to have silenced his critics not be subject to the same conditions, and there by his recent performances in transmitting coherent will be no time limit. This is the longest flight messages over a distance of some 1,500 miles. M. Santos-Dumont has yet attempted, the distance The well-known aeronaut Mr. Bacon is pro- being about a hundred miles. The Aero Club have posing to cross Arabia, photographing and mapping undertaken to find M. Santos-Dumont a suitable en route. A similar scheme was brought forward building in which to store his belongings. recently by Major Baden-Powell with regard to The Late Richard Schumacher was born the Soudan. Those interested in balloon research, January 19th, 1827, at Altona. His father was may like to hear that it is proposed that the Professor H. C. Schumacher, founder and for Aeronautical Society of Great Britain shall this thirty years the editor of the " Astronomische summer arrange a high ascent in England for the Nachrichten." He at first acted as assistant to purpose of making in some definite observations his father at the Altona Observatory, and also took the atmosphere which are of importance • paramount part in the measurement of the Danish degree. to aerial navigation. In 1859 he became assistant to the late Professor On March 11th Professor G. B. Poulton, F.R.S., Moesta at the Observatory at Santiago, Chili, help- Hope Professor of Zoology in the University of ing in geodetical operations. Owing to the state Oxford, delivered the first of a course of two of his health he returned to EuroiDe in 1869, and lectures at the Royal Institution on "Eecent in 1873 was again appointed assistant at the Altona Researches on Protective Resemblance, Warning- Observatory, which was shortly afterwards removed Colours, and Mimicry in Insects." Professor to Kiel. Here he had the principal charge of the

Silvanus F. Thompson delivered the Friday even- . transit circle until the time of his death on Feb- ing discourse on March 14th, his subject being ruary 24th. From time to time numerous papers " Magnetions in Transitu." The succeeding dis- from his pen have appeared in the " Astronomische course the following week was given by Geheimrath Nachrichten." Professor Otto N. Witt, of Berlin, on " Recent Mr. R. W. Hanbury, M.P., President of the Developments in Colouring Matters." The dis- Board of Agriculture, has appointed a departmental course was given in English. Committee to inquire into and report as to the The last month has seen several new arrivals at present position and future prospects of forestry the Zoological Gardens. Among the most inter- and the planting and management of woodlands esting is a young female snow-leopard, a graphic in Great Britain. It is further to consider whether account of whose capture was given recently in any measures might with advantage be taken, " the Field" newspaper. It has been placed in the either by the provision of increased educational house occupied until recently by the lynx, whose facilities or otherwise, for their promotion and death leaves the Gardens without a representative encouragement. The Committee consists of the of its species. Another very striking animal is the following gentlemen—namely, Mr. R. C. Munro- panda (Ailurus fulgens), which has found a place Ferguson, M.P., Chairman ; Sir John F. L. Rolles- in the Small Cat House. It differs materially from ton,'^M.P., Mr. F. Stafford Howard, C.B., a Com- the .specimen in the Natural History Museum, missioner of His Majesty's Woods, Forests, and being much smaller and more cat-like. The wild Land Revenues ; Professor W. Schlich, C.I.E., horses which, as we noted in these columns, Mr. Ph.D., Professor of Forestry, Royal Indian Engineer- Hagenback secured some time ago are view now on ing College, Coopers Hill ; Colonel F. Bailey, R.E., in the Giraffes' Yard. At the present time the Lecturer on Forestry, Edinburgh University ; Pro- Society is especially rich in lions, and has, in fact, fessor J. R. Campbell, B.Sc, an Assistant-Secretary almost more than are required. On the other hand, to the Department of Agriculture and other In- the cheetah, the only example of its kind in the dustries and Technical Instruction for Ireland Gardens, and a great favourite, seems likely to Mr. J. H. Lewis, M.P., Mr. G. Marshall, and Dr. W. die. It is to be hoped that some exchanges may Somerville, an Assistant-Secretar}' to the Board of be effected. The litter of Red River hogs,"born in Agriculture. Mr. Reginald Hooker, of the Board the Gardens, is very flourishing. of Agriculture, is the Secretary to the Committee. SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 339

On March 12th Mr. John Hughes read a paper In the " Irish Naturalist " for March Dr. ScharfE at the Society of Arts On the " Use of Alkaline figures and gives an account of a white-beaked Phosphates." The chair was taken by Professor dolphin stranded in Dublin Bay. Hall, the Principal of Wye Agricultural College. The Vaccination League have been investigating Among the illustrated monthlies for March, rumours as to the alleged ill effects of the vaccina- " Pearson's Magazine " contains several interesting tion of employes in certain business establish- articles, among them being an account of the ments, and have received answers from the various stone forests of Arizona, an article on various kinds employers, who state that there is not a word of of flying fish, illustrated from photographs, and a truth in the stories that have been circulated that sketch of a day in the life of a spider. arms had been amputated in consequence.

We recently noticed an account in a publication One Hundred and Fifty Thousand marks, or of the Hull Museum of a prehistoric war canoe, or £7,500, have been guaranteed by private individuals rather the carved representation of one. We hear for the establishment of a Cancer Research Insti- now that a large canoe, formed of the trunk of a tute at Frankfort-on-the-Main. The Berlin Com- tree, has been discovered in Mayo. This canoe is mittee for the Investigation of Cancer have received capable of holding twenty men, and is beautifull}^ from German doctors material covering twelve carved. thousand cases, from which it appeared that cancer was not hereditary, but contagious. A GENERAL monthly meeting of the Royal Insti- tution was held in the afternoon of March 3rd, The nervousness which many persons feel about Sir James Crichton-Browne, Treasurer and Vice- electric traction and currents generally should be President, in the chair. It was announced that allayed by the papers read recently at the Institute His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales had gra- of Electrical Engineers. Mr. A. P. Trotter showed, ciously consented to become Vice-President of the from the results of a number of personal experi- Institution. The special thanks of the members ments, that the electric pressure ordinarily in use were returned to •' An Old Member" for a donation for jpurposes of traction, 500 volts, is only likely to of £50 to the Fund for the Promotion of Experi- do serious mischief under exceptional circum- mental Research at Low Temperatures. stances. It is fortunately improbable that this limit is not likely to be exceeded. A Stone-age Gallery has been erected in the much Prehistoric Room of the Rritish Museum, and con- A newspaper says that the seismographic in- tains an admirable series of exhibits, illustrating struments of the University Observatory at Moscow the tools and weapons of man prior to his acquaint- duly recorded the disturbances at Shemakha, in ance with the use of metals. Affixed to the wall Transcaucasia, a distance of no less than 1,400 near the stairs by which the gallery is reached is miles as the crow flies. The earthquake shocks a map of England and Wales, showing the prin- took place at 12.15 p.m. at Shemakha, local time, cipal sites where remains of the Stone Age have and were noted by the Moscow instruments at been found. These lie south of a line drawn from 12.13 p.m., that is, allowing for the 35 minutes the Wash to Bristol Channel, and are marked by difference between the local times of the two white-headed pins, while black-headed pins show places, little over half an hour after they had the sites of caves from which traces of the presence occurred. It appears that the vibration of the of man have been recovered. The Stone-age earth's crust thus travelled at the rate of 800 metres Gallery will perhaps never be a "popular" show, per second. but it is visited a large inter- by number of people At a recent meeting of the Royal Society Sir ested in the subject, that is the and number on Norman Lockyer read a paper on the effects of increase. The exhibition is a valuable addition to pressure on the spark discharges from metallic the Ethnographical Department of the Museum. substances, whicli had an important, though in- Lord Rayleigh on February 27th, at the Royal direct, bearing on the interpretation of the pheno- Institution, gave as the Bakerian Lecturer a paper mena recently exhibited by the new star in On the Law of the Pressure of Gases between Perseus, and previously by that in Auriga. Here 75 and 150 millimetres of Mercury. In this lie certain of the bright lines in the spectrum were stated that tlie observations recorded were in- found to be associated with absorption lines on tended to bridge over in some degree the gap their more refrangible sides. This appearance he between the very low pressures (below 1-5 mm.) had attributed to the presence of two bodies dealt with in a recent paper and pressures ap- moving with a very great relative velocity, one proaching the atmospheric for which the usual causing a radiation, the other an absorption spec- mercury column and cathetometer method are trum. This interpretation had been questioned, adequate. The principal novelty consists in the results of experiments being quoted as adverse, and use of two similar manometric gauges. Pressures it had been suggested that the pairs of lines were in the ratio of 1 : 2 are obtained by tlie use, lirst more probably due to high pressure. In order to of a single gauge, and, secondly, of the two test this hypothesis the author had made experi- gauges connected in series. Tlie equality of the ments with iron, silver, lead, copper, zinc, and gauges is tested by observations upon them when magnesium under water by means of which certain combined in parallel. The use of these gauges experimental difficulties were avoided and very allows abundant accuracy in the measurement of high tensions obtained when electric sparks were the pressures and the difficulties relate rather discharged. The results, which he described in to the adequate determination of volumes and detail, j)roved to be very different from those temperatures. The results show that within the which had been observed in the spectra of the new very smallest limits of variation, air, hydrogen, stars, thus demonstrating that, whatever be the oxygen, and argon obey Boyle's law. In the case cause, it cannot be that which produces the appear- of nitrous oxide a deviation was observed in the ances presented in the spectrum of the spark in direction that might be expected. water. "

.340 SCIENCE- GOSSIF.

A CONTBIBUTION to the botaiiy of West Laiica- An illustrated reprint has been issued of a paper shu-e appears in a paper reprinted from the read by John Cadman, B.Sc, F.G.S., before the " Naturalist," by Mr. S. Lister Petty. It refers Institute of Mining Engineers in October last. It especially to the Silverdale area. deals with the ironstones found in the North Stafi^ordshire Coalfield. Messrs. Blackib & Son, Limited, have issued their new " Circle Series " of Science Note-books. The thirty-second annual report of Wellington They are of the usual exercise-book appearance, College Natural Science Society for 1901 contains but ruled in definite squares for centimetres, a plate of eolithic flint implements found on quarter-inch, and tenth of an inch. They are only Finchampstead Ridges. There is other informa- one penny each. tion showing that the Society is taking an in- telligent interest in the district surrounding the regret to record the death of Dr. Emil We College. Holub, the well-known African explorer. His book on the countries formerly known as Mono- There are several important papers in the last motapa and the Marutse-Mambunda Kingdom was issued "Journal of the Marine Biological Associa- recognised as an important contribution io African tion," vol. vi., N.S., No. 'A. They deal with the literature. He wrote also volumes on African marine fauna of the estuary of the river Exe, the plankton of the Shetlands also colonisation and on the big game and birds of the Faroe Channel and ; region. other important subjects, including a report on " The Second International Conference for the Ex- Mr. Willoughby Gardiner, F.L.S., has com- ploration of the Sea," held at Christiania in 1901. piled a useful list of Hymenoptera Aculeata observed in Lancashire and Cheshire. Unfortunately, with The " Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual the progress of building suburban Liverpool some Meeting of the Association of Economic Entomo- of the best localities in the district are rapidly logists " has been issued by the Government Print- changing in character. It is, therefore, well to ing Office at Washington. The U.S. Department of have so full a list of the bees, wasps, and ants of Agriculture has j^rinted this report, according to its that district as has been issued by Mr. Gardiner. custom. There are two illustrations representing His notes are of more than passing interest. the manner of destroying weevils which attack peach and plum trees in Georgia. The illustrations A prehistoric sepulchral monument, of a kind show a large number of persons employed on this hitherto in Europe, has been discovered unknown work. at Bleasdale, in Lancashire, by Mr. S. Jackson. A paper on the discovery has just been issued by the A PAPER was read before the Royal Meteoro- Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society. It logical Society on March 19th by Mr. F. J. Brodie " is well known that " standing stones," whether on The Prevalence of Gales on the Coasts of the solitary or in groups such as ch'cles, are often British Islands." This dealt with the thirty years memorials of the dead, whatever other purpose between 1871 and 1900. The worst year was 1883, and the quietest was 1889. The highest velocity they may have served ; but the remarkable feature in the Bleasdale monument is that wood has taken of wind was on January 12th, 1899, being 78 miles the place of stone. per hour. Forty-three per cent, of storm systems advance from some point between south and south- The " Medical Press and Circular " has a very west, 39 per cent, have an easterly motion, and less interesting account of decapitation. According to than one per cent, move westwards. the idea of a surgeon in the United States Navy, who closely watched the beheading of thirty-six It is pleasing to find that Sir James Musgrave, Chinese criminals in Canton, death was not of Carrick Lodge, Co. Donegal, has forbidden his instantaneous, but came almost immediately after keepers to destroy a couple of golden eagles which the sword-stroke, and was due to syncope. The have appeared on his estate. Another one, interesting features were, that in many cases a measuring 6g feet across the wings, was unfor-

decided effort to swallow was shown ; in several tunately trapped ; and this led to the preservation attempts were made to articulate in a deliberate of the remaining birds. Sir James Musgrave manner. The faces showed a momentary look of welcomes the visits of naturalists to his estate, intelligence as they fell, with a natural movement that runs for thirty miles along the coast of " of the eyes as if looking, and an opening and Donegal, and includes the celebrated " Tormore closing of the lids. breeding place for birds, which is strictly pre- served. The deposit of a specimen of the long-haired, or Mexican, spider monkey (Ateles vellerosm') at the The latest outcome of the " nature study Gardens of the Zoologisal Society is a matter for movement is an association which is to hold an congratulation, as up to the present time English exhibition of everything connected with nature naturalists have not had an opportunity of examin- teaching, in the Gardens of the Royal Botanic ing a living example of this species. It ranges Society of London on July 23rd and the following farther north than any other member of the genus, days. The Hon. John Cockburn, K.C.M.G., is the being found in Mexico, and is said to occur in the chairman of the executive committee. He, it will upper part of the basin of the Tampico River, be remembered, has been Minister of Education about 23° N. latitude. On the opposite side of the and Premier of South Australia ; so those who look room is a full-grown example of the very rare for valuable education results from the holding of red-bellied spider monkey (^1. rufiventrh') from the exhibition will have the greater reason for Colombia, of which only one other example has their expectancy. We shall await the report of been received by the Society, and that just thirty the committee with interest. Any details as to years ago. Nothing is known of the habits of this the exhibits which it is suggested should be offered species, which owes its popular and specific names can be obtained from the hon. secretary, Mr. J. C. to the rufous coloration of the under surface, the Medd, at the Gardens, or Stratton, near Ciren- rest of the fur being black, and rough in texture. cester. SCIENCE- GOSSIP, 341

subject selected by Mr. Massee for his presidential address was that of the Coprophagous Fungi. By means of many coloured drawings he gave the members an idea of the numerous and curious fimgi that were found growing upon dung, and he recommended the study of these organisms to the majority of micioscopists either as a relief to theii*^ normal work or as an interesting occupation. The methods of propagation were clearly explained, and many curious facts were noted in that connec- tion. The general direction of their CONDUCTED BY F. SHILLINGTON SCALES, F.R.M.S. development was indicated. A passage of the spores through

, the alimentary canal of some animal appeared Royal Microscopical Society, February 19, necessary to the continuation of some species. Over Wm. Carruthers, Esq., F.R.S., Vice-President, in seventy difi'erent species were found on one frag- the chair. The Chairman called attention to an ment of their pabulum. Mr. Massee also described interesting exhibition by Mr. Conrad Beck of tiae methods of cultivating these organisms and of typical bacteria as being exceptionally clear and obtaining pure cultures. The address %vas listened instructive specimens. So clear were they that no to by the meeting with the greatest interest, and a difficulty need in future be experienced in recog- vote of thanks to the President, proposed by Mr. nising them. The Secretary, in the absence of the J. G. Wallei-, seconded by Mr. J. Mason Allen, was author, read a paper by Mr. Nelson on " Polarising carried unanimously. with the Microscope," wherein the use of tour- malines was advocated. One tourmaline, of a A Rare Old Microscope.—The| photograph smoky tint with the slightest dash of pink, free reproduced herewith represents a, very fine and from veins or specs, and not less than \ inch in carefully preserved specimen of the once famous diameter, should be mounted in a cap to fit over the " Pritchard " microscope, which has recently come eye-piece. The other tourmaline might be of the into my possession. The accompanying pictvu'e ordinary yellow green variety, but larger, about will doubtless be interesting to microscopists as-

/j^ X ^^ inch, mounted in a metal screen, 2| x an illustration of the great advance that has been of inches, so as to exclude all light not passing- through the tourmaline. This screen is to be placed in front of and close to the lamp chimney. Any form of substage condenser can be used with this new arrangement of tourmalines, with the exception of apochromatic condensers, which should not be used in polarised work, because the fluorite used in their construction itself polarises. The images obtained by this new method will be just as critical as those in a microscope where no polariscope is used. The paper concluded with an explanation of the advantages obtained in the adoption of this arrangement in the investigation of phenomena due to the interference of polarised light known as " rings and brushes." Mr. Karop thought it would be a great advantage if a tour- maline prism could be rendered effective, as

Nicol prisms were expensive ; he thought, how- ever, that a sufficiently large piece of flawless tourmaline would be as expensive as a Nicol prism. The Chairman announced the death of Mr. A. W. Bennett, the editor of the Society's journal. Mi\ Bennett had been a member of the Council for many years, and had been a vice-president,

QuEKETT Microscopical Club.—At the meet- ing of February 21st Mr. George Massee, F.L.S., President, was in the chair. The Secretary an- nounced the additions to the library. These in- cluded a very elaborate work on the " Cladocera of " " Sweden," by Dr. Lilljeborg, presented to the Club The Old PKiTfii.vRD Microscope. • by a member and officer of the Club who wished to remain anonymous. The volume contains eighty made during the past century in the construction; very fine plates and was handsomely bound. A very of their favourite instrument. Pritchard is pro- hearty vote of thanks was passed to the donor of bably best known to modern microscopists as the " this valuable gift. The ballot for president, officers, author of " Pritchard's Infusorium —that wonder- and committee was taken, Mr. Neville and Mr. ful book on rotifers, diatomaceae, etc., which has West being appointed scrutineers. The names induced so many to take up the microscope as ai recommended by the Committee were unanimously hobby and study. Although I do not see his approved. The thirty-sixth annual report was read instruments figured in any of the modern hand- by the Secretary and the annual financial state- books, he was also known as a maker of micro- ment by the Treasurer. The adoption of the report scopes. Indeed, in the earlier part of the past, and statement was carried unanimously. The century his instruments enjoyed a high reputation. 342 SCIENCE- G OSSIF.

and we are largely indebted to the researches of seldom practicable to use a lime on more than one himself and Dr. Goring for the improvement in evening. This is, of course, a special drawback to our present object-glasses. The microscope to the photo-micrographer, who may only require an which I have directed attention fully maintains exposure or two. We have recently tried some this maker's reputation for excellent workiBanship. " magnesia " lime cylinders, which do not slake, In spite of its age, it is still in working order, and and therefore require no sealing up, and have had its lenses, especially those of the eye-pieces, will one of these in use without deterioration for some bear favourable comparison with those of more weeks. The intensity of the light is little less than recent date. One of the eye-pieces differs from that of the ordinary limes. We obtained these any I have previously seen, having three lenses, limes from Messrs. Townson & Mercer, of 89 Bishops- and objects viewed with it are presented to the eye gate Street Within, E.G., price 2s. 6d. per dozen, with almost stereoscopic effect. One of the most but they can doubtless be got elsewhere as well. interesting features in the instrument consists in its adaptability for use as an ordinary dissecting MEETINGS OF MICKOSCOPICAL SOCIETIES. microscope. This is effected by simply removing Royal Microscopical Society.— 20 Hanover the body from its iitting and substituting a simple Square, W., May 21st, 8 p.m. lens in its stead. There is a:n ingenious con- trivance at the nose-piece for preventing injury to QuEKETT Microscopical Club. —20 Hanover Square, W., May 2nd, 7 p.m. ; I6th, the front lens of an objective through its being- May 8 p.m. Excursions : May 10th, Hadley 24th, racked down upon the cover-glass of the slide Wood ; May Chingford. under examination. When looking at this fine old instruinent one cannot help feeling admiration for Manchester Microscopical Society. —Grand Hotel, 1st, the clever old mechanic and optician who made it Manchester, May 7 p.m. ; mounting at a time when machhie tools were almost un- section. May loth, 7 p.m. known, and who yet produced work which will stand comparison with that of the present day. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. I may add that I am informed that Mr. Pritchard S. W. B. (Sleaford).—The authoritative and best died in London on November 24th, 1882, aged microscopical publication in the world is the' F.E.8., 218 Upland Road, 78 years.—/. C. Webb, " Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society," Dnlwicli, S.E. issued to Fellows every two months, and sold to Beck's "Imperial" Microscope. —We give others at 6s. per number. Its important features, herewith an illustration of this microscope in its apart from the transactions and proceedings of the most complete form (model 1,101), as described Society and the papers on microscopical matters read before the meetings, are its excellent sum- maries of current researches relating to Zoology, Botany (principally Invertebrata and Crypto- gamia). Metallurgy, Microscopical Methods and Technique, New Microscopes, Apparatus, etc. It is, of course, in no sense "popular," but is indis- pensable to serious workers. The " Journal of the Quekett Club " is published twice a year, at 3s. 6d. per number, and contains interesting articles on microscopical matters, reviews of new books, as. well as reports of the meetings of the Club. It is supported mainly by enthusiastic amatem-s, whom the Club endeavours specially to help. The " Quai'terly Journal of Microscopical Science" is published by J. & A. Churchill at 10s. per number. It appears quarterly, and contains advanced papers on subjects concerned with microscopical research, contributed by those who have been engaged in definite specific investigations. SciENGE- GossiP lias always been looked upon as the microscopical journal for amateurs, and it welcomes original contributions and communications on this and all kindred subjects. Latterly special atten- tion has been paid in its pages to new instruments and apparatus, as well as methods of technique. ' Knowledge," published at 6d. monthly, holds a similar position amongst astronomical readers, and has recently added a mici-oscopical column. " The American " Journal of Applied Microscopy The " Imperial " Microscope. is devoted mainly to technique and microscoijical methods, suitable for laboratory as well as other by us in detail last month {ante, 309, 310). pp. workers. It contains also selected summaries or The block did not reach us until after we had gone reviews of microscopical literature. It is sold in to press. London by Dawbarn & Ward, at 4d. monthly. The " Magnesia " Lime Cylinders.—Those of our "American Monthly Microscopical Journal" is readers who use the oxy-hydrogen light for photo- also issued monthly at the same price. If you can micrography or projection purposes will be aware read German, the" Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaftliche of the tendency of even the best "limes" to crack, Mikroskopie," published in Leipzig, is issued whilst the rapidity with which they slake makes it quarterly for a yearly subscription of 20 marks, or —— —

SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 34: a like number of shillings. It contains original articles, summaries, notes on apparatus and S=^ technique, and a list of new books. EXTRACTS FROM POSTAL MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY'S NOTEBOOKS. [Beyond necessary editorial revision these notes ' are printed as written by the various members. BOT/INY^^ Ed. Microscopy, S.-G-.] {Continued from page 312.) FIELD BOTANY. Rosa caniiia. —Commencing with the middle section, we notice the structure of the pith to be CONDUCTED BY JAMES SAUNDERS, A. L.S. composed of groups of large cells radiating from Wild Snowdrops.—Early in March this year a groups of small cells. These latter are the cut small party of cyclists went rambling to gather ends of a network of active, living elements, and wild snowdrops. The habitat of these charming- the larger cells are only so much packing. The flowers is a miniature gorge, with steep narrow cells are all very strongly pitted. Bounding this sides, roughly tangled with brambles and nettles. pith are the wood bundles with the fascicular The stream IdcIow flows over a stony bed, here and cambium active, and the interfascicular cambium there interrujjted by a ledge or mass of rock, over just commencing its operations. Beyond the which the water falls in a small cascade. It is a cambium lies the bast tissue, the phloem or soft sunny, sheltered spot, on the south-west border of bast on the inside, the sclerenchyma or hard bast on Herefordshire, and for a distance of nearly a mile the outer. Outside this comes the cortex, the the snowdrops grow in their hundreds, sometimes chlorophyll -bearing tissue, with cells whose scattered, sometimes in thick white masses. They Jonger diameters are arranged tangentially. At the outer edge of the cortex, bounded by the epidermis, may be seen patches of cells with their longer diameter coinciding with the line of growth, so that they now present their shorter diameter to the observer. These did not contain chlorophyll. The active cortex corrugations separate these strings and extend to the epidermis. It is upon theselines of chlorophyll-bearing tissue that we find the stomata of the stem. In the cortex may be seen several compound raphides. The prickle is distinguished from the thorn by the fact, as may be here seen, that the wood does not enter into its composition, it being simply a defensive outgrowth from the cortex. It is composed of fusiform cells, strongly pitted, and when developed strongly lignified. Between the prickle and the cortex is an absciss layer providing for the fall of the prickle, though I cannot see the advantage Abnormal Snowdrops. resulting from it. By careful examination of the prickle we can see that wherever there is a crystal were in perfection of bloom ; taller than their it is always contained in a subdivision of one of garden sisters, most of the scapes being from nine the long cells ; and one cell is thus divided into to twelve inches high. One of these, bearing two nine compartments, each containing its crystal. as here figured, sixteen inches, 'Regarding the crystal as utterly useless to the flowers, measured its leaves twelve it greatly plant, as being the result of destructive meta- and pair of inches, and snowflake. flower was bolism and a crystallisation out of and therefore resembled a summer One found having four parts to each perianth-whorl and insoluble in its own sap, the tissue itself being eight stamens. Overhead the alder catkins were strictly mechanical, it seems strange that such dangling in colours of crimson and gold. The crystal should be so carefully isolated. more sober-hued hazel catkins were nearly empty Terminal Leaf Spine of Agave americana (L.S.

of pollen ; the little crimson tufts of the female and T.S. prepared by grinding). —This is another flowers sprinkled over the bushes. The first illustration of the uses of sclerenchyma, here acting were primroses were flowering by the stream-side, while as a defensive tissue. Its elements may be, roughly, on the steep shelving banks coltsfoot was in orbicular, angular, or long-sprouted ; in fact, they few days later, in another locality, are of every conceivable shape, often maturing blossom. A wild daffodils were gathered, and among them was under the pressure of surrounding tissues, and each

found one with a double-headed scape ; but in this cell is crushed by the increasing strength of the of the neighbouring cells case both flowers came out of the summit ; intercellular air-spaces are not scape, with but one sheath and two pedicels. to be found here. The cell-walls were originally Armitage, Badnor, cellulose, but have been strengthened by successive Eleonora Herefordshire, March 1902. deposits of lignin. Channels of communication nth, between cell and cell have, however, been left January Flowering of Hazel.—With refer- open, and these pores are known as "canaliculi." ence to the note (p. 287, ante) regarding pollen- When two of the sclerenchyma cells touch, these shedding male catkins of hazel observed in canaliculi correspond in position with each other. the West of England during the week endin::;- Thos. S. Beardsmore, Hinoldey, Leicestershire. January 25th, I may mention that on January 26t]i — —

344 SCIENCE- GOSSIP. many of these catkins were expanded upwards of Protective Characters in Plants.—In an three inches in length in this valley at an elevation article in a contemporary the Rev. A. S. Wilson of about five hundred feet ; being in fact so abundant recently treated of protective characters in plants. I gathered a few, and subjected them to chemical As an example, the resemblance between the white analysis. The fresh catkins contained (58 per cent, dead nettle (Laiiiinm^ alhuni) and the stinging- of water, 29-8 organic matter, and 2-2 ash. The nettle (JJrtica dioica) is given. In order to prove dried substance contained about 2 per cent, wax, that a case of so-called mimicry is really of protec- fat, resin, and a trace of carotin, about 16 per cent, tive value three things are required : — (1) It must tannin, phlobaphene, rutin, etc., over 10 per cent. be shown that the resemblance is suificiently close sugar, mucilage, etc., 29 fibre, and 6-7 ash. The to deceive those animals interested in the mimick- remarkable feature about the constituents was the ing species. (2) It must be proved that the imitated considerable quantity of rutin, tannin, and phloba- species is really protected. (3) That the mimicking phene, and I may say that the oxalate of calcium species escapes from those enemies which destroy extracted by dilute hydrochloric acid yielded the related, non-mimicking species. As i-egards crystals of a size and beauty unparalleled in my the first point, it may be admitted that there is a experience. Every effort was made to detect general superficial resemblance between the two starch, but none was found ; nor were fruit-sugar species. Is it sufficient, however, to deceive any or citric acid discoverable in the aqueous or alco- animal interested in the dead nettle as a source of holic extracts. The proportion of mucilage was food supply 1 I think not. My daily bread does very large, but the albuminoids seemed rather not depend on my ability to distinguish them, yet scanty. The ash of the catkins contained about the difference is quite obvious to me even at a little 31 "6 per cent, soluble salts, 22 potass and soda, distance. Would even the most amateur of 7'4 silica, 20-2 oxide of calcium, and 10'2 phos- botanists admit that he could not readily detect phoius (PnOj). According to De Planta dried the difference 1 What, then, if our daily business hazel pollen contains 5 per cent, starch and 31 '63 was to discriminate between them ? They would albuminoids, also 7 to 8 cane sugar, biit no have, for us, less resemblance than an apple has to glucose. I prepared some of the pollen grains as a gooseberry. So it must be with those animals carefully as possible, and applied the iodine test which depend on the dead nettle as a source of under the microscope, but failed to detect any food supply. Again, we all know how much keener trace of starch. I may add that the primrose tint the scent of most animals is than our own, and of the catkins is due to a trace of carotin, and the Lamium album has a scent totally different from brownish shades to dehydrated tannin. —(-0^'.) that of Urtica dioica. While as regards insects, it P. Q. Keegan, Patterdale, Westmorland. has been shown that they are much more probably attracted to plants by scent than by sight. It A Maltese Plant.—There are flowering in seems to me, then, that as regards the first point Malta at the present time some small blue flowers, the case breaks down. Lavdum alhnni is not of which I do not know the name. A curious sufliciently like Urtica dioica to deceive any of thing occurred in connection with one of these its enemies which might conceivably be afraid of which interested me, so I thought perhaps I might the latter. As regards the second point, Urtica get an explanation by addressing this to SciENCE- dioica, in spite of its sting, is one of the most per- GOSSIP. I had picked the plantlet by the root and secuted of plants. It Is the ordinary food of the brought it on board, and put it into a little test-tube caterpillars of three common butterflies, the red with some water to grow. One flower came out admiral, the peacock butterfly, and the small and expanded well, but was half closed the next tortoiseshell. The painted lady and the comma I it morning, so put in the sun to see if it would butterfly also sometimes lay their eggs on it, as do expand again. This seemed to have no effect, so I several species of Plusidae and other lepidoptera concentrated the rays of the sun on it by a magni- heterocera. The nettle is no more protected against fying glass in such a way that the size of the these caterpillars than the cabbage is against the circle of rays was about one-sixth the size of the " garden white " butterflies. Nettles are also glass, or, say, six times the strength of the sunlight, attacked by gall-flies ; browsing animals occasion- and the flower was inside the focus of the glass. ally eat them ; snails also consume them. Against For about a minute nothing happened. At the end what, then, is the nettle i^rotected? As regards of that time I was astonished- to see the corolla the third point, I am not prepared to iDrove a entire, carrying with it, I afterwards found, the negative. It is for those who call the resemblance stamens, make a sudden and violent start away of Zamium alivm to U'rtica dioica a protective from the calyx and stalk. I still kept the light on character to bring forward evidence, if there is it, and after about three seconds the corolla, with any. I think, then, I have shown that the re- another, most sudden jump, conveyed itself clear of semblance is not sufliciently strong to deceive an the calyx and stalk altogether, and fell down clear interested enemy, and that the imitated species is of plantlet the at some little distance on the table not reall}=' protected. My acquaintance with the by its side. I should be most interested if anyone literature of the subject and a study of those cases ' could give me an explanation of this effect of which I have been able to examine for myself light on the plant. Lieut. B. P. Weston, JI.3I.iS. lead me to conclude that this apjjlies to a large " Pimia" Mediterranean Sqnadron. number of cases of mimicry and protective cha- [Judging from your sketches enclosed and racters. Let me give one or two illustrations. On description, your Maltese plant is an AnagalUs, the river Amazon Mr. H. W. Bates met with a probably .4. coerulea. Its near ally, the A. arvensis, moth resembling a humming-bird. This is what " is frequent in fields and waste places in this country, he says about it : Several times I shot by mistake and from its habit of expanding its flowers only in a humming-bird hawk-moth instead of a bird. clear weather it is known as the "Poor Man's This moth {Macroglossa titan) is somewhat smaller Weather-glass." A. cocrulea, the blue pimpernel, than humming-birds generally are, but its manner occurs in many places in Britain. J. A'.] of flight and the way it poises itself before a flower

\ ,

SCIENCE- GOSSIP.

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SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 345

whilst probing it with its proboscis are precisely To make them out to be vegetables requires careful like the same actions of humming-birds. It was scrutiny. It might be suggested that this resem- only after many days' experience that I learned to blance to stones enables them to escape being " distinguish one from the other when on the wing devoured by fungus-eating animals. I cannot help ("The Natviralist on the River Amazon," p. 181). feeling, however, that if I were a hungry animal, Note that "after many days' experience" Mr. and fungus was my natural food, I would not pass Bates was able to distinguish them. May we not them by with a superficial glance, but examine say, then, much more would the moths' enemies them closely, touch them, smell them, and eat be able to do so ? The following is what Sir them. The whole theory of mimicry and protec- " S. W. Baker says of the elephant : It is well tive characters and their evolution by natural known that the colour of most animals is adapted selection is founded on a large number of cases by nature to the general tint of the country more or less similar to the above, and which, like they inhabit. ... It may appear ridiculous to them, will not bear investigation. — G. W. Bulman, say that an elej)hant is very difficult to be seen 13 Vicarage Drive, EasthouToie. He would be plain enough certainly on the snow, [We have inserted Mr. Bulman's notes for the or on a bright green meadow in England, where consideration of our readers without in any way the contrasted colours would make him at once a committing ourselves to his opinions. Our columns

striking object ; but in a dense jungle his skin are open to our readers for their views upon the

matches so completely with the dead sticks and subject. Eds, ;S'. 6r.] dry leaves, and his legs compare so well with the Malformed Leaves op Vetch.—Last August, surrounding tree-stems, that he is generally un- on a bog in South-west Ireland, I noticed a number perceived a stranger even pointed out to by when of branches of Vieia angvstifolia trailing over the him. I have actually been taking aim at ah heather plants. They had no flowers, but near the elephant within seven or eight paces when he has tips of the branches there were manj'' small brown perfectly friend at elbow, been unseen by a my closed-up leaves, closely resembling minute vetch peering thi-ough quest of who was the bushes in pods, with constrictions, and containing round him. . . . eye ear habituated to The and become white objects just like seeds. These curious- watchfulness, and their powers are increased in the same proportion as the muscles of the body are by exercise. Not only is an animal imme- diately observed, but anything out of the common among surrounding objects instantly strikes the attention " (" Bight Years in Ceylon," pp. Ill, 112). We may point to the same moral. The individual interested will not be deceived. Again, consider the case of bees and wasps. These have a protective character, their sting ; while their colour and form are imitated by a number of flies. Now there is certainly a striking general re- semblance in these bee-like and wasp-like flies to real bees and wasps. It is sufficient to deceive the inexperienced. I have, for example, seen a person of average intelligence afraid of a swarm of these harmless wasp-like flies. Probably the DiSTOETED Vetch Leaves. ancient myth that a swarm of bees could be generated in the to the carcass of an ox was due carpel-like leaflets were submitted to Professor G-. deceptive resemblance of those brown bee-like Henslow, who reported that they were produced by flies, whose maggots live in rotten carcasses, to the attack of mites, some species of Phytoptus. genuine bees. It only requires, however, a little The mimicry of small leguminous pods by these experience to quite readily be able to detect the malformations was very striking. E. Armitage^ sham. I have spent some time in watching these Dadnor, HerefordsMre, March nth, 1902. insects rather closely, and I cannot remember ever being deceived by them. Let anyone who Notes on Surrey Plants. —In my notes upon the plants of Surrey, which appeared in SciENCE- doubts this spend, say, one hour a day for a month GossiP for last month, the record for Mamuncvlus watching them closely. The same conclusion must ophioglossi/oliits Vill. should be omitted, as the be reached—viz., that the sham is readily detected. plant, which I found, to critical Can we doubt that their enemies have had much appears be upon examination a broad-leaved form of Manvneulus- more experience, and a.re much more keenly flamnmla Linn. S. A. Chamiers, 2 Linden Villas^ interested 1 Hence they will be much less likely Leatherhead. to be deceived. We may further ask, " Are bees " and wasps really protected ? The answer is that ANSWERS TO COKRESPONDENTS. there are probably few members of the insect tribe more persecuted. I need not here quote particular C. E. B. (Camberwell).^It is true that the hills, examples. It is well known that they are greedily between Barton and Hexton are sometimes purple devoured by birds, by frogs and toads, and by in places with the blossoms of Anemone Pulsatilla, certain mammals. Thus we see in this case also The best station is on the east side of the Coombe^ that the resemblance is not sufficiently close to known as Barton Springs. If a walking tour is deceive, and that the imitated species are not pro- proposed, take the Midland Railway train to tected. On the South Downs here I have noticed a Harlington, thence to Barton and back to Luton, a rather curious case of " protection." Certain fungi total distance of ten or eleven miles. Any time which grow in irregular lines in the turf have a from the middle of April to the middle of May remarkable resemblance to scattered flint pebbles. would be suitable. J. 8. — ..

34^ SCIENCE- GOSSIF

STRUCTURAL and PHYSIOLOGICAL BOTANY.

CONDUCTED BY HAROLD A. HAIG.

Bacteriology as a Branch of Botany.—The study of the Schizomycetes or " fission fungi " is interesting from several points of view. First, we may look at them from their true botanical aspect, and, secondly, from the point of view of the patho- logist in the investigation of their toxic properties. It is, however, to the latter study that tlie term conducted by F. C. DENNETT. "bacteriology" sliould be applied, for one nowa- days most often hears it spoken of in the patho- Position at Noon. logical sense. Tiie botanical histologist may, 1902 Rises. Sets. R.A. Dec. ° " however, be often called upon to state definitely April h.m. h.m. h.m.s. '

Sun .. 10 .. 5.19 a.m. . . 6.45 p.m. . 1.12.41 . 7.42.12 N. whether such and such a unicellular organism is a . 11.17.23 N. 20 .. 4.-57 a.m. ..7.2 p.m. . 1.49.36

Schizomycete or not, and may in this way be of . . 14.34. 30 . 4.37 a.m. .. 7.18 p.m. . 2.27.13 ON. •considerable use to the pathologist. As a matter Rises. Souths. Sets. Age at Noon. of fact, in order to settle the whole question one April h.m. h.m. h.m. d. h.m. .. 1.22.10 lias to look at these organisms from three points of Moon . .10 .. 6.16 a.m. .. 1.49 p.m. .. 9.32 p.m. 20 .. 4.53 p.m. .. 10.38 p.m. . 3.49 a.m. .. 11.22.10 view : (1) botanical (2) chemical ; and patho- ; (3) 30 .. 0.52 a.m. .. 5.38 a.m. . 10.30 a.m. . . 21.22.10 logical ; so that to speak of bacteriology as a Position at Noon. branch of botany one is not quite correct. Never- South ?. Semi- R.A. Dec. O 1 II April diameter, h.m.s. theless we have quite recently seen it stated as h.m.

Merciii y.. 10 ..10.58-8 a.m. .. 2-7" . . 0. 9.59 . . 1.29.47 S. ; not it as exclu- such but we must regard being 2-5" 20 ..11.26-1 a.m. .. . . 1.16.41 . . 6.25.21 N. sively so. There is a curious instance of a patho- 30 .. 0. 4-1 p.m. .. 2-5" . . 2.34. 3 . .15. 5.42 N.

. 8.18.26 logical saprophyte in the disease known as Venus .. 10 .. 9.12-1 a.m. ..14-8" . .22.23.10 . S.

'. . 7-6 ..13-0" .22.58. 7 . 6. 7.46 S. actinomycosis, caused by the presence in the 20 9. a.m. . 30 .. 9. 5-5 a.m. ..11-6" . .23.-35.27 . . 3.15.25 S. tissues of the human being of the fungus Mars .. 20 ..11.42-0 a.m. .. 1-9" . . 1.32.32 . . 9. 8. 6 N. actinomyces, the mycelia of which penetrate into Jupitet ,. 20 .. 7.16-6 a.m. ..17-3" . .21. 6.27 . .17. 7.23 S.

8-8 7-7" . . .20.37. OS. and between the cells, bringing about the forma- Saturn .. 20 .. 6. a.m. .. .19.58.26 Uranu^ .. 20 .. 3.31-8 a.m. .. 1-8" . .17.20.57 . .23.13. 4S. tion of multiple abscesses in various parts of the Neptune .. 20 .. 4. 5-1 p.m. .. 1-2" . . 5.56.17 . .22.19.29 N. body. The botanical aspect of this case is very interesting, as it shows us that other organisms Moon's Phases. besides Schizomycetes may infest animals and pro- // m. h.m.

...... 1.50 p.m. duce pathological results. The symbiotic relations 3rrf Qr . April 1 6. 24 a.m. New . April 8

1st Qr. . . 15 . . 5.26 a.m. Full .. 22 .. 6.50 p.Ql. are very striking, for we see that this saprophyte „ „ ird Qr .. „ 30 .. 10.58 p.m. directs its action especially towards animal tissues, In perigee on April 10th, at 1 p.m. in apogee whereas in most cases (lichens, etc.) the symbiotic ; on 26th, at 7 a.m. relation is usually found between two members of the vegetable kingdom, not between animal and Meteors. h.m. ° vegetable, as in this case and that of Schizomycetes. April 17 to 20 .. Lyrids .. Radiaut R.A. 18. Dec. 32 N. It may, therefore, be seen, that the botanist can be „ 17 to 25 .. ^ Serpentids . „ „ 15.24 „ 17 N.

of especial value to the pathologist, and par- „ 29 to May 6 r, Aquarids . ,, „ 22.28 „ 2 S. ticularly so if at the same time he appreciates the The last-mentioned are visible a little before sunrise. true physiological aspects of the question. Conjunctions of Planets with the Moon. A "Sport" in Digitalis. —The "Curiosities . . 5.15 S. Page" of the " Strand Magazine" for March 1902 April 2 Saturn»t • 4 p.m. Planet „ 3 Jupiterf . 9 p.m. „ 5.53 S. reproduces photograph sent a by a Bournemouth Venus-' 6 a.m. „ 2.28 S.

. 6. contributor of a curious foxglove whose apical ,. 7 Mercury* . 6 a.m. „ 1 S.

Mars* . Noon . 2.25 S. flower is depicted as having the shape of a Canter- „ 8 „ 11 Ceresf . 4 a.m. • 0.23 S. buiy bell. The photograph appears to be quite „ 30 Saturn . 2 a.m. „ 5.20 S. fide, bona and the phenomenon is peculiar, for DayliKbt. t Below English horizon. variations in the number and shape of the petals Occultations. or corolla lobes and the form of the corolla as a Angle Angle whole do not as a I'ule go so far as to entirely do Magni Dis- from Re- from away with all resemblance to the other flowers of April Star. tude. appears. Vertex, appears. Vertex. the inflorescence. One has, of course, to consider h.m. ° h.m. °

the possibility of a campanula seed having lodged 11 .. 8'Tauri 4-2 . . 9.36 p.m. .. 91,. 10.15 p.m. .. 193 4-6. .11.23 .. 50.. Below horizon. in the axil of a bract neai- the apex, and in some 12.. 119 „ p.m. 15 . . 68 Oemiuorum 5-0 . . 0.36 a.m. .. 15.. 1. 9 a.m. .. 296 way germinated, but this is not very probable. 21-2 J a Virginis 1-2 . .11.46 p.m. .. 144 0.52 a.m. ,. 242 " Most likely the phenomenon is a sport." The 29 . . p" Sagittarii 3-9 . . 4.20 a.m. . . 85 . . 5.44 a.m. . . 245 text accompanying the photograph does not make Partial Eclipse of the Sun. any mention of the aspect and disposition of the two inner floral whorls. I think we There is a very slight partial solar eclipse on may assume that these conformed to the Scro- April Sth, visible in far northern (arctic) regions fulariaceous type, and not to that of the Cam- in the early afternoon, but quite invisible at panulaceae. If this point were investigated, the Greenwich. chances would probably be in favour of the four Total Eclipse of the Moon. didynamous stamens and not five alternate ones, and of a superior as opposed to the inferior ovary On April 22nd the moon I'ises at 7.5 p.m. totally of Campanula. Harold A. Haig, London. eclipsed, about 12 minutes after the middle of the SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 347

•eclipse. Totality ends at 7.35-4 p.m., the last Markwick at Devonpbrt observed it at 5.50 about contact with the shadow occurs at 8.45'4 p.m., and 20 m. before sunset. When first seen, nearly all with the penumbra at 9.55-3 p.m. The last contact observers agree that it appeared white, deepening with the shadow is at a point 60° from the north in tint to golden, and finally crimson. After sun- point towards the west. Dr. C Hillebrand calls set it appeared to rise from a low cloud bank, and , attention to the fact that, owing to the effect to have had an altitude of some 20°, gradually of refraction, it may be possible, in suitable shortening. It seems to have disappeared about localities, to see the setting sun close to the western 6.40 p.m. To Mr. W. A. Knight at Bruton, Somer- : horizon and the eclipsed moon close to the eastern set, a few light clouds, visible at the same time, horizon at the eclipse of April 22nd ; and on appeared to pass behind the pillar. Messrs. Corder October 17th, the conditions will be reversed the and Markwick both note the similarity of its ap- sun in the east and the eclipsed moon in the pearance to a comet. It was seen from London west. and Salisbury on the east, and at Penzance on the west. Its origin was terrestrial, the sun's rays The Sun, after a long state of inactivity, became being refracted by ice crystals in the upper regions very disturbed in the early days of March. In the of the atmosphere. The phenomenon is quite north-eastern quadrant there was, upon the 6th, different from the zodiacal light, with which some a group of large spots covering an oval area having seem to have confused it. apparently a mean diameter of not less than 43,000 miles. A more elongated group of small The Great Comet op .1901. —At the meeting spots was visible in the north-western quadrant of the British Astronomical Association on Febru- and a small group of faculae just within the south- ary 26th Mr. E. Walter Maunder called attention eastern limb. On March 9th the area covered by to the memoir by Professor Bredikhine, Director of the large group was found to be 86,600 miles by tne Pulkowa Observatory, on the shape of this 43,000 miles in extent. A watch should be kept comet's tail. This worker many years since made for further outbreaks. an especial study of cometary tails, with the result that he divided tails into three groups. First type, Mercury is a morning star all the month until long and straight, like the tail of great comet of April 29th, when it is in superior conjunction with 1861. Second type, the long curved plume, like the sun at 1 a.m. At midnight on the 23rd Mars that of Donati's comet of 1858. The third type, by and Mercury are in conjunction, the latter being no means frequently found, where the tails are only 40' to the south. It is not in favourable short and violently curved. These different types position for observation. are supposed to be caused b}^ the varying molecular Venus is a morning star all the month, reaching weights of the gas or vapour composing them, and her greatest elongation west, 46° 12', at midnight therefore of its susceptibility to the unknown on April 25th, on which date it rises at 3.26 a.m., repulsive force which forms them. The first comet only an hour and 21 minutes before the sun. Its of the present century, previously to its perihelion path is wholly through the constellation Aquarius. passage, showed but a single tail, and that of the Mars is too near the Sun for observation. first type. After perihelion it exhibited two tails, Jupiter and Saturn are morning stars all the one of the second and one of the third type. A month. Saturn rises at 3.9 a.m. on 1st and at study of the last-mentioned seems to indicate that 1.19 on 30th, Jupiter rising 40 and 50 minutes later it was originated by a great explosion which must respectively. have taken place on April 22nd. The second-type Uranus retrogrades along a short path a little tail was somewhat different from those usually ob- north of 44 Ophiuchi, situated a little N.E. of the served, in that the central rift was not of the usual star fl in that constellation. conoidal form, but instead conical, having the Neptune may still be observed in the evenings nucleus at its apex. This is well shown on iDhoto- on the borders of Taurus and Gemini. graphs dated May 5th and May 20th, on which, as New Minor Planets.—The discovery by Dr. also on that of April 24th, the nucleus appeared to •Camera of five of these tiny bodies, one on February have no envelopes on the side towards the Sun. l2th, three on March 3rd, and one on March 4th, The third-type tail also differed from those usually is announced from Professor Max Wolf's Astro- seen in that form. Instead of being short, it had a physical Obsei'vatory, Konigstuhl, Heidelberg. length of from 30° to 40° longer than the principal tail. The drawings and photographs from which " On the Phenomena called Signals on the Professor drew his conclusions were principally Mars " was the title of a paper read by Mr. those made at the Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Percival, Lowell at a meeting of the Astronomical Hope. and Astrophysical Society of America in December Great Meteor. On the evening of January 7th, last. It referred to the bright projections seen — at 8.35 Sydney mean time, a very brilliant meteor upon Mai-s by Mr. A. E. Douglass on December 7th was observed in New South Wales, at places so and 8th, 1900. They are shown by subsequent far as 370 miles ajDart. It appears to have radiated calculation to have belonged to different parts of from a point in the constellation Octans about the planet. Appai'ently both were in motion, R.A. 16 h. Dec. S. 83°, and during visibility fell nearly due west, during the time of observation, from a height of 71 miles to that of 28 miles. Its and were probably due to clouds. path must have had a length of about 100 miles, Brilliant Sun Pillar.—The evening of which was traversed in about three seconds. A March 6th was beautified by one of these remark- few minutes after its disappearance a terrific ex- able phenomena. It seems to have been first plosion was heard, which in some places was so noticed by Mr. McHenry Corder, of Bridgewater, the violent as to shake windows and even cause build- well-known meteor observer, as early as five o'clock. ings to vibrate. These particulars are gleaned At this time it was white, and there were slight from a paper read by Mr. W. E. Besley before the traces of a halo around the sun. Colonel E. E. British Astronomical Association. —

348 SCIENCE- GOSSIP

is said to be the agent causing the coagulation of the blood. It has frequently been shown that potassium cyanide has a restrictive influence on the action of various enzymes. " Red " Cod.—Minute red points resembling vermilion have occasionally been observed on dried salt cod, and in 1887 a whole cargo of fish at Lerwick was thus infected. Dr. Edington found the phenomenon was due to a micro-organism,. Banllus ruhescens, which developed not only on CONDUCTED BY C. AINSWORTH MITCHELL, the fish, but also on the salt used by the curers. B.A.OXON., P.I.C, F.C.S. When grown upon nutrient gelatin a wrinkled colony was formed, in which a pink colour only Breathing under Water.—Some years ago a developed after some weeks. Though this micro- diver's helmet was constructed by Mr. Fleuss with organism was proved to be harmless, the fact of the object of enabling the divers to be independent its being present at all showed that the fish were of an external supply of air. In this apparatus insufficientl}' preserved, and might thus become a the exhaled carbon dioxide is absorbed by caustic suitable medium for the development of pathogenic potash, whilst the oxygen consumed is replaced by bacteria ; and as a matter of fact several other fresh gas from a small portable cylinder com- species of non-pathogenic micro-organisms were municating with the helmet. The elhcacy of this isolated by Dr. Edington, although that mentioned appliance has been frequently demonstrated by above was the only one that produced a colouring Mr. Fleuss, but never in a more striking manner matter. This bacillus is quite distinct from B.pro- than when he passed through the flooded Severn digiosvs, which forms a blood-red colony on moist tunnel, remaining under water for more than thirty bread, and occasionally on meat. Dantec sub- minutes. The helmet has also been adapted for sequently found two chromogenic micro-organisms, the use of firemen, who by its aid are enabled to a bacillus forming terminal spores and a micro- breathe in an atmosphere of thick smoke. A coccus, which produced a red pigment when grown simpler apparatus on the same lines has recently upon gelatin, but formed colourless colonies when been devised by Drs. Desgrez and Balthazar, of cultivated by itself upon salt cod. Paris. The main feature of their invention is the Action of Distilled Water on Lead. Pro- use of sodium peroxide, which was discovered in — fessor Clowes has made a series of experiments to 1862 by Professor Vernon Harcourt, though it determine the infliience of various salts and gases has been but little used, except as a reagent in the solvent of water lead. analytical chemistry. Commercial sodium peroxide upon action upon From the results obtained it is evident that carbon is a yellowish-white powder, which is extremely dioxide has a restrictive influence, which is greater caustic and possesses strong oxidising properties. in proportion to its quantity, whilst free oxygen is On exposure to the air it absorbs carbon dioxide in the principal active agent. It was also found that the same way as caustic soda, being converted of the substances that prevent the solvent action into carbonate, whilst on treatment with water it the most effective were sulphuric acid and sul- is decomposed into caustic soda and gaseous phates, while lime (calcium hydroxide) was much oxygen. Thus on placing sodium peroxide in con- less effective, and when present in large quantities tact with water in an atmosphere that is being even promoted the action. Distilled water, free breathed, the carbon dioxide will be continually from gases, only dissolved lead to the absorbed and the oxygen renewed by one and the dissolved extent of 0-3 part per million when kept out of same substance. The apparatus applying this contact with atmospheric oxygen. The amounts principle contains a clockwork appliance by means of lead dissolved by the water in the presence of of which sodium peroxide is made to fall at regular oxygen and carbon dioxide were as follo'^\'s : intervals to water, whilst the violence of the reac- tion is moderated by a refrigerator. The apparatus is contained in a light circular box of aluminium, 24 hours 48 hours 72 hours and is connected with the helmet by means of two Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. rubber tubes. With the aid of this " oxygen Oxygen alone 0-013 0-023 0-029 " generator Dr. Balthazar has been able to remain Carbon dioxide alone 0-005 0-008 0-017 for more than half an hour in an atmosphere Oxygen and Carbon dioxide in equal volumes 0-0U3 0-003 0-003 saturated with sulphurous acid. Oxygen and Carbon dioxide Artificial Parthenogenesis.—Greeley has '(S:l) 0-015 0-OlS discovered the interesting fact that it is possible to efEect the development of the mature unfertilised Composition of Antique Statuettes.—An eggs of the starfish by exposing them in sea-water interesting communication by M. Berthelot in a to a temperature of 4° to 7° C. for one to nine recent issue of the " Comptes Rendus " shows that hours. Another striking fact in this connection is the Chaldeans and Babylonians were possessed of the influence of potassium cyanide in prolonging considerable metallurgical skill. A Babylonian the life of the unfertilised eggs of the sea-urchin, statuette was found to consist of a cojjper alloy which has recently been demonstrated by Loeb containing 79-5 per cent, of copper, 1'25 per cent, and Lewis. It was found that this salt, which is of tin, and 08 per cent, of iron. A similar ordinarily such a deadly poison, when added in a statuette from Chaldea estimated to be 2,200 years small proportion to the sea-water apparently old was composed of nearly pure copper containing efEected a suspension of the processes which cause only a slight proportion of iron, whereas another the death of the unfertilised eggs. Possibly these Chaldean statuette, some 400 years older, consisted processes are of an enzymic character presenting mainly of an alloy of four parts of copper with one an analogy to the so-called fibrine ferment, which part of lead and a trace of sulphiu-. SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 349

may possibly have a very slightly larger head

than their fellows ; but, taking the general popu- lation, there is really a very insignificant associa- tion between size of head and ability. For practical purposes it seems impossible to pass any judgment from size of head to ability, or vice versa." Rate of Recombination of Ions in Gases UNDER Different Pressures. —"The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Phil. Mag." for March CONTRIBUTED BY W. H. CADMAN. 1902 contains an interesting paper on this subject by R. K. McClung, M.A. Any gas which has been Lord Kelvin. —We are glad to notice the name exposed to Rontgen rays retains the ionisation of this great physicist included in the modest list thus produced for a short time after the source of of nine distinguished men upon whom the young radiation has been removed. The negative and University of Wales will confer in May the degree positive ions take an appreciable time to recom- of Doctor in Legibus (honoris causa), in celebrating bine with each other. This question of the rate the second installation of a Eoyal Chancellor. of recombination of ions was investigated by Pro- fessor Rutherford for air and some other gases at Effect of Smoke and Gas upon Vegeta- atmospheric pressure. McClung undertook his tion. The extent of injury to agricultural and — research to find the relation between the rates of forestry interests by pollution of the atmosphere recombination at dift'erent pressures. The rays in cokeing and other manufacturing operations from an X-ray bulb passed through a brass cylinder has received considerable attention during the last containing the electrodes consisting of thin few years. W. A. Buckhout has recently noted aluminium foil between which the leak was mea- the condition of vegetation in the immediate sured. The cylinder was made so that it might vicinity of a number of manufacturing centres in be exhausted or subjected to considerable internal America. The injurious effect of the gases, pressure as desired. The results obtained show smoke, and soot is shown by the destruction of that the rate at which the ions recombine in forests and orchards in the vicinity of large manu- ionised air is determined by the same law, no matter facturing establishments. The most- practicable method for the prevention of some of this injury is what the pressure may be—namely, -- = —a.'n}, believed to be the erection of tall smoke stacks or where is the number of ions per c.c. in the gas chimneys, in order to secure the most effectual aid n at any time, t, after the rays have ceased, and o is a in rapid dilution of the gases. Much mischief constant for any given gas. The same law was would be prevented if such works were erected in found to hold true for hydrogen and carbon large open plains instead of in valleys, as is so dioxide as for air. often the case. Electric Detonators.—It is not, perhaps, Influence of Mountains on Hailstorms.— generally understood how useless dynamite and This disputed subject has received much attention other high explosives would be except for the at the hands of the Italian Meteorological Office. insignificant little detonator. A ton of dynamite In the last publication Professor V. Monti compares may lie secure, yet the smallest Nobel detonator the results of observations for seven years at the exploded in the mass sets free the terrible resist- typical stations, the Collegio Eomano, and Monte- less power of the dynamite in all its fury. cavo, an isolated station at an altitude of 1,000 Detonators consist of thin copper tubes closed at metres, near Rome. Eighty days of hail were one end and filled with a detonating composition observed at Montecavo against forty-one at Rome. consisting of fulminate of mercury and, generally, During the same period there were 176 thunder- potassium chlorate. Fulminate of mercuiy is pro- storms at Rome, compared with 129 at the other duced by the action of nitric acid and alcohol station. The excess of hail at the mountain upon mercury. It is very sensitive to heat and station does not appear to be attributable to a shock, and, being one of the quickest explosives greater intensity of atmospheric electricity. The known, gives an extremely sharp shock, which is monthly mean temperature at Rome is about 10° C. exactly what is required to detonate dynamite. higher than at Montecavo, and hence Professor Electric detonators usually contain a mixture of Monti suggests that the fusion of hail in crossing antimony sulphide and potassium chlorate as a the warmer stratum of air may account for the priming mixture, in addition to the fulminate of smaller amount at the lower station. mercury. There are two systems of electrical Mathematical Investigation of Intel- blasting—namely, high tension and low tension. lectual Ability.—The "Proceedings of the The high-tension E.D. fuses are largely used in Royal Society," No. 456, March 7th, 1902, contain Europe. Attached to the ends of the wires em- an amusing article on " The Correlation of Intel- bedded in the detonator is a sensitive chemical lectual Ability with the Size and Shape of the composition which is ignited by a spark passing Head," drawn up by Karl Pearson, F.R.S. Miss between the terminals, resulting in an explosion. M. Beeton, of Girton College, pi-epared cards Low-tension E.D. fuses have within the detonator giving the name, college, and chief physical a fine platinum wire encased in a suitable flashing measurements of upwards of a thousand Cam- mixture ; and this wire on becoming heated by the bridge undergraduates. The nature of the degrees current ignites the mixture, which in its turn ultimately obtained by them were then compared explodes the detonator. This system is in almost with these measurements. Tables are given show- universal use in tropical countries. The low-ten- ing the relation between ability and length and sion possess a great advantage over high-tension breadth of the heads of different men. The fuses, in that their efficiency can be tested at any author finally concludes that " very brilliant men time with a galvanometer. .

350 SCIENCE- GOSSIP.

CONDUCTED BY B. FOULKES-AVINKS, M.R.P.S. London Geological Field Class.—We under- stand that the annual series of Saturday afternoot EXPOSURE TABLE FOR APRIL. excursions of the London Geological Field Class, The figures in the following table are worked out for plates of conducted by Professor II. G. Seeley, F.R.S., com- about 100 Hurter & Driffield. For plates of lower speed numbei mences on April 26th, when a visit will be paid to give more exposure in proportion. Thus plates of 50 H. & D. Erith. would require just double the exposure. In the same waj-, The excursions will be continued on each plates of a higher speed number will require proportionatelv succeeding Saturday, except on the Saturdays less exposure. before "Whitsuntide and in Coronation week, until Time, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 12th. These excursions will afford the means of examining some of Between 9 and 10 a.m. and 2 and 3 p.m. double the greater movements which the rocks of the SoutJi-east the required exposure. Between 8 and 9 a.m. and of England have experienced in foldings which changed their 3 and 4 p.m. multiply by 4. level. The denuding action of the sea in levelllng- the land will be examined and compared with the Subject F,5-6 F.8 F.ll F.16 P. 22 F. 32 F.45 F.64 action of atmospheric denudation, as seen in the forms of the parallel hill ranges and valleys of 1 1 Sea and Sky . 30C 2T0 lio 1^0 4 Surrey and Kent. The work of the session will illustrate the geological structure of the districts Open Landscape and Shipping 1^. -h h A I \ \ 1 known as the Weald and the London Basin. The strata examined will comprise all members of the Landscape,with Neocomian and Cretaceous groups, the Lower dark fore- _i_ 1 London Tertiaries, and the gravels and brick earth ground, Street 35 I 4 \ 1 2 4 Scenes, and of the Thames Valley. Opportunities will be given Groups for collecting fossils from these strata, and from the Upper Oolites, upon which rest. Portraits in they Further 8 16 32 - - - Rooms V 4 particulars can be obtained from Mr. R. Herbert Bentley, the honorary general secretary, 43 Glou- Light Interiors 4 8 16 32 1 2 4 8 : cester Road, Browuswood Park, X. 1 Dark Interiors 1 2 4 8 16 32 4 Coccus OP the Orange-tree. — This year I have noticed a greater number than usual of those The small figures represent seconds, large figures minutes. small dark scales on the rind of oranges which The exposures are calculated for sunshine. If the weather is cloudy, when examined with a pocket lens bear so striking- increase the exposure by half as much again ; if gloomy, double the exposure. a resemblance in shape and general character to a •mussel-shell with its convex side uppermost. I have Photographic Year-books.— The "Process been much interested in examining these curious Year-book " for 1901-2, jjidDlished by Messrs. relics of creatures whose life-history is so markedly Penrose & Co., of London, shows a marked advance dissimilar to all other known orders of the animal upon its predecessors. It is full of beautiful creation. These singular creatures belong to the- pictures, reproduced by the photography of colour order Hemiptera, and are closely allied to the- and ordinary plain process-work. Some of these aphides. They belong to the Coccidae, the same are exquisite in artistic production and accuracy. family as those great pests of the horticultm-ists,. There are many useful articles, on various subjects the "mealy bugs," the cochineal insect, - Coccus- " connected with photography. The International cacti," of so much mercantile value for dyeing pur- Annual of Anthony's Photographic Bulletin " for poses, being also of the "same genus. Carefully 1902, being vol. xiv., is to hand. It is produced removing from the orange with a needle one of in- New York, the London agents being Messrs. these scales, and placing it under the microscope, Iliffe & Sons, Limited. It is published at the concave side upwards, we usually find the shell is price of two shillings, and contains many illus- more than half full of oval pearl-like eggs, probably trated articles. Some of the pictures are" excep- forty or fiftj^ in number, and one wonders how tionally beautiful, and most of them are interesting. they got there. Singular to say, while the uni- The book will be found useful to amateurs, as well \ ersal law of Nature appears to be progi-essiou as to the more advanced photographers. Messrs. towards perfection, here we find the exception,, Penrose have also sent their illustrated catalogue, in that the female coccus becomes more and which contains much information. The annual more imperfect as she approaches the com- " number of PhotograiDhy," published by Iliffe & plete state. Having arrived at maturity she Sons, is beautifully illustrated by a series of the selects the place where she intends to feed, then chief photographs of the year. The Thornton- once for all inserts into the plant leaf, stem, or Pickard Catalogue for 1902* contains several im- fruit her proboscis, which cannot afterwards portant novelties, one of them being the Focal be again withdrawn, and there she remains, de- Plane Automan, which is fully described. It is a stined for the future to be simply an animated distinct ad^iance towards obtaining perfect pictures. stationary suction-pump. Henceforth she gradually — : —

SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 351 and imperceptibly loses all trace of articulation procure, may with tolerable certainty be obtained in body and limbs, until all former resemblance to breed the perfect insects. The most productive to, or indeed indication of, an insect has com- trees are the oak, elm, birch, poplar, ash, hawthorn, pletely vanished, and she appears a total wreck, and willow. The trowel should be inserted to the " sans everything." Having laid her eggs, which depth of about four inches in the interstices of the remain under her, she finally shrivels up to a dry roots. The sod thus removed may be put on one husk, and is now nothing but a protecting shield side and the cocoons gently sought for with the to the enclosed and underlying eggs. She will hand, along the under surface of the tree root, to never see her progeny, and they can at most only which they are often found to be adhering. The know their poor mother as a snug shed with a sod should now be lightly tapped with the trowel, low-arched roof from which they will too gladly and if there are any pupae in it they will pro- emerge upon the first opportunity. The male bably fall out. If the sod is of light dry earth, coccus is a small, short-lived, white-winged fly. it will easily fall apart afterwards by shaking,, " Mr. C. J. Gahan says : Some years ago the when a more minute examination may repay the orange plantations of California were threatened searcher. It is of little use digging at a greater with ruin owing to the ravages of Icerya puroliasi, distance than eight inches from the trunk of a which had been accidentally imported from tree, and in the case of trees other than those I Australia, and had spread with great rapidity. have mentioned the pupae are more likely to be Experts were sent to Australia to try and discover found under the loose bark or moss than at the the natural enemies of the insect in its native roots. Exception must be made in favour of those country. It was found that the scale-insect was of Trachea pin\percla and Boarmia ahietaria,. there kept in check by dipterous and hymeno- which are found at the roots of fir and spruce and pterous parasites, but chiefly by the larvae of a yew trees. With the aiDproach of winter pupae lady-bird beetle. A number of these beetles and become more difficult to find. They have many parasitic insects were brought to America, and set enemies, such as birds, mice, and even earwigs, to prey upon the coccidae. When they had multi- that feed upon them. The best course then is to plied si^fficiently they were distri bitted amongst commence searching within a few weeks of the several orange plantations, with the result that transformation from the caterpillar to the pupae many were soon almost entirely cleared of the stage having taken place. The collector, however, scaly bug." In the year 1845 Mr. G. Newport, should always be prepared for the possibility of F.R.S., at that time President of the Entomological some of his finds drying up. This arises as a rule Society, said in his anniversary address that " so from their being injured, either before or during complete had been the ravag-os of the coccus of their capture, or having been kept too dry. Some the orange-tree, that one of the Azores—the island are tougher than others, but all require the utmost of Fayal—lost its entire produce from this cause care in handling. Meadows and parks dotted with alone. The usual annual exportation from Fayal trees of large growth make the best hunting- had been 12,000 chests; but in 1843 not a single grounds. Of the trees, those where the grass chest was exported." This amount of injurj^ to a beneath has been worn away by cattle or which whole population by a diminutive and apparently are situated on the banks of streams are the most contemptible insect was the result of but three likely hunting grounds. A solitary oak or poplar years' ravages. Well might the President say in the middle of a field is an ideal spot for the " The effects of this insect on a single article of pupa digger, especially if the soil is dry and luxury might fairly be adduced to show that friable. Pieces of loose bark still adhering to entomological inquiries are deserving of full the tree and every nook and cranny of the tree attention." Samuel Htmartli, 26 Grange Crescent, itself should be carefully examined. In some cases Sheffield. the cocoons will be found concealed between a Pupa Hunting. — Hunting for lepidopterous pair of leaves joined together. The chrysalis of chrysalides may be carried on all the 3^ear round, Platypteryx falcula chooses the leaves of the birch but the summer and early autumn months will be for this purpose. It is found in June and again in found the best. For equipment an ordinary September. Another species of the same genus- garden trowel and a box filled with moss are all selects the leaves of the beech. The moss growing that is necessary, patience and perseverance ex- at the base of trees should also be carefully re- cepted. It is quite likely that the bag at first will moved and examined. Woods, as a rule, will be not be a large one, but the pupa digger who found unproductive. This does not apply, how- at the first unsuccessful essay throws up the ever, to their extreme edges, nor to the borders of hunt in disgust would probably have found his the clearings often to be met with even in the toil amply rewarded at the second or third attempt. heart of a forest. Clearings in elevated positions It is hoped, however, that the hints given here and with a northern as^ject are the best. When a may save those who have not tried this mode of hard sod has been removed from the base of a tree collecting, the expenditure of a good deal of the without result it should, whenever possible, be time and trouble which are the result of inexperi- replaced in the cavity from Avhich it was taken. ence. First, heavy clay soils should be avoided, or The earth having been loosened forms a sort of ground which is so hard as to present a serious trap, and one may have an excellent find on the obstacle to the trowel. Next, when the ground is next visit. Pupae digging can be recommended sodden with recent rain it should be left, and the as a healthy and interesting- pursuit, and rare pupae looked for upon trees or under loose bark specimens may be obtained in this way at a season and moss. They are, of course, often found when of the year when the hope of capturing- fully gardening', whilst turning over sods of turf or developed insects of the same species is qiute out digging up roots ; but these are chance finds as to of the question. Until, however, accustomed to which no rules can be laid down. By searching the accompanying physical inconvenience, one must methodically in the manner here indicated, the expect some tiring days. A. L. Clifford. 37 Saint pupae of some rare moths, otherwise difficult to Augustine JRoad, Camden Square, London, N. W. ... ——

352 SCIENCE. GOSSIP.

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meetings are marked excursions * ; names persons Ordinary f, of EXCHANGES. following excursions are of Conductors. Lantern Illustra- tions^. Notice.—Exchanges extending to thirty words (including

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SCIENCE- G OSSIP. W. LONGLEY, ENTOMOLOGICAIi CABINET W^0mm APPARATUS MAKER. A FILMIiESS CINEMATOGRAPH NATURAL HISTORY AGENT AND BOOKSELLER, For taking and projecting life-size animated photographs with greatest perfection to the extent of over 550 pictures. SOUTH BENFLEET, R.S.O., Specially constructed for the Amateur op Professional. Price SIMPLE and RELIABLE £9 9&. Negatives and Positive MECHANISM. Plates 2/6 each. Subject Nets, Breeding Cages, and Apparatus of every descrip- Plates, 3 6. 6d. allowed for each Plate ' tion ; Cabinets for Insects, Birds' Eggs, Minerals, Shells, returned unbroken.

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A simple, inexpensive, and reliable process, based upon sound scientific principles, for obtaining photographs of any object in its Phptogfraphy in natural colours, faithfully reproducing every shade and tint All Apparatus and Materials for work- sanger ing tlie process now ready. Natural COMPLETE OUTFITS for /• ^ \r\ STANDARD SIZE LAN- T, Z \\\^ SHEPHERD TERN SLIDES from *^ ^ v\jij% THREE COLOUR FrUTERS from 15'- per Set. 6olours. PROCESS. New Descriptive Booklets and Catalogues now ready. yS See " Photography in 1901," " Science-Gossip," January 1902, page 232. Natural Colour Photographs made to order from ^atural History Specimens, Microseopie Objects, Works of Art, &e., either as lantern Slides or larger transparencies. AfPARATUS and MiVTERIALS FOR OBTHOCHBOMATI C PHOTOGRAPHY AND PHOTO-IWICBOGBAPHY. SAN^Od^ SH:E:PJEl^E:f^D & CO., Factory and Offices: s, 6, & 7 Gray's Intj Passage, Red Lion Strfet, Holrokn, London, W.C.

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